--- title: Bernie Madoff Speaks Out Against ABC Mini-Series description: His email from jail called it "absurd." canonical: https://time.com/4226030/bernie-madoff-mini-series-absurd/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T17:53:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:07:09.273Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Bernie Madoff Calls ABC Miniseries 'Absurd' og:description: The former financier spoke out from prison og:url: https://time.com/4226030/bernie-madoff-mini-series-absurd/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa53414e4f995ae/69887dd33c1639393345c0b6/bernie-madoff-abc-mini-series-mad.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: (FILES) A picture taken on January 14, 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Madoff Calls ABC Miniseries 'Absurd' twitter:description: The former financier spoke out from prison twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa53414e4f995ae/69887dd33c1639393345c0b6/bernie-madoff-abc-mini-series-mad.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie Madoff Calls ABC Miniseries 'Absurd' by [Corky Siemaszko / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Corky Siemaszko / NBC News Feb 16, 2016 5:53 PM CUT  A picture taken on January 14, 2009 in New York, shows Bernard Madoff leaving US Federal Court after a hearing regarding his bail. A picture taken on January 14, 2009 in New York, shows Bernard Madoff leaving US Federal Court after a hearing regarding his bail.Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images by [Corky Siemaszko / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Corky Siemaszko / NBC News Feb 16, 2016 5:53 PM CUT Everybody’s a critic — including Bernie Madoff. In an email to NBC News, Madoff took umbrage over ABC’s portrayal in a recent mini-series of his life and crime. The 77-year-old pleaded guilty in 2009 to running a Ponzi scheme and stealing $17.5 billion from investors. He is serving a 150-year sentence. “I’m sure it is fruitless to enumerate the numerous fiction and absurd mischaracterization (sic) in the ABC movie,” he wrote. “However I have never been one to turn the other cheek. I will just cover those incidents that have drawn queries.” First, “I have NEVER slapped my son Mark,” wrote Madoff. [_Read the rest of this story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bernie-madoff-pans-absurd-mini-series-email-prison-nbc-news-n519431?cid=sm%5Ftw&hootPostID=8f825dc229020a046031a9d0e340315c "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4226030/bernie-madoff-mini-series-absurd/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4226030/bernie-madoff-mini-series-absurd/"},"headline":"Bernie Madoff Calls ABC Miniseries 'Absurd'","datePublished":"2016-02-16T17:53:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:07:09.273Z","description":"The former financier spoke out from prison","url":"https://time.com/4226030/bernie-madoff-mini-series-absurd/","keywords":["Crime","Money","Television","Business topic","Scandal","Courts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa53414e4f995ae/69887dd33c1639393345c0b6/bernie-madoff-abc-mini-series-mad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Corky Siemaszko / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa53414e4f995ae/69887dd33c1639393345c0b6/bernie-madoff-abc-mini-series-mad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"(FILES) A picture taken on January 14, 2","caption":"A picture taken on January 14, 2009 in New York, shows Bernard Madoff leaving US Federal Court after a hearing regarding his bail.","creditText":"Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4226030/bernie-madoff-mini-series-absurd/","name":"Bernie Madoff Calls ABC Miniseries 'Absurd'"}}]}] ```