The series finale of the Paramount+ show “The Good Fight” depicted a character accusing Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of sexual assault.
The episode, titled “The End of Everything,” aired Thursday on Paramount Plus and depicted the main character, Diane Lockhart, meeting with a “flamboyant” gay man, Felix Staples, in a conference room, Fox News reported. In the episode, Staples told a graphic story of the Florida governor apparently drugging and luring him into having oral sex.
“I offered my political services to Governor DeSantis. He saw me in my bicycle shorts worn purely for medical reasons and he invited me onto his staff,” the character said in the episode. “Little did I know what that meant by staff…This is where it gets more, shall we say, ribbled? Ron invited me to CPAC [Conservative Political Action Conference] so I could work on his speech and then, and there, he drugged me and forced me into oral sex.”
Lets the smears begin. Final episode of @TheGoodFight on @ParamountPlus has client claiming @GovRonDeSantis sexually assaulted him. “He invited me onto his staff. Little did I know what he meant by staff….and forced me into oral sex.” Have DeSantis DNA “stain.” #thegoodfight pic.twitter.com/961T7MP0nu
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 (@BrentHBaker) November 10, 2022
The episode continued with Staples pulling out a red shirt with the words, “Florida is for lovers,” with a white stain apparently depicting semen. The attorney characters then dismissed his accusations and suspect that he attempted to smear DeSantis for political reasons, Fox News reported. They spent the episode gathering evidence to expose Staples of lying.
Towards the end of the episode, Staples confessed to fabricating the story to put former President Donald Trump “ahead in the polling” ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to Fox News.
Several conservatives on social media expressed outrage over the episode.
“Is this kind of thing legal? I realize the whole free speech thing is pretty robust, but can you just insert a real public figure into your fictional movie and make him a sex offender?” Washington Examiner contributor Harry Khachatrian wrote.
Is this kind of thing legal? I realize the whole free speech thing is pretty robust, but can you just insert a real public figure into your fictional movie and make him a sex offender? https://t.co/Dd2v6kvTXs
— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) November 10, 2022
How can you tell the next election has begun? This will give you a hint… https://t.co/3tJC7LWFrL
— Paul Bedard (@SecretsBedard) November 10, 2022
Some also defended the show’s producers by arguing that DeSantis is innocent throughout the whole episode.
“Stop sharing that DeSantis TV show clip thing. The whole point of the episode is that the guy is lying and DeSantis didn’t do anything,” podcaster Noam Blum said.
Stop sharing that DeSantis TV show clip thing. The whole point of the episode is that the guy is lying and DeSantis didn’t do anything. https://t.co/objB7h0SFL
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) November 10, 2022
this isn’t what it sounds like. if you know the show, you know the “accuser” is a reoccurring character best described as a ratf-cker. He’s lying here, and the lawyers bust him. Show doesn’t actually accuse DeSantis of assault.
please do not ask me how i know any of this. https://t.co/HzmPceYwo8
— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) November 10, 2022
The episode comes as the public is eyeing a potential political rivalry between Trump and DeSantis, as the former president appears to view the governor as a threat. Trump branded the governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious” at a campaign rally ahead of the midterms and credited himself for DeSantis’ popularity. (RELATED: Trump Downplays DeSantis Victory, Says He Won More Florida Votes In 2020)
“Ron came to me in desperate shape in 2017—he was politically dead, losing in a landslide to a very good Agriculture Commissioner, Adam Putnam, who was loaded up with cash and great poll numbers. Ron had low approval, bad polls, and no money, but he said that if I would Endorse him, he could win,” Trump said in a Thursday statement.
Several surveys have found that DeSantis has taken the lead over Trump in 2024 presidential primary polls.