Is "Gaslit" Based on a True Story? Its Details are Shocking

Suspenseful, political dramas are always a good watch, but one with Julia Roberts and Sean Penn? Count me in! The acclaimed actors are starring in the latest series by Starz, "Gaslit." The limited series sheds a different light on the politicians and outsiders that influenced the the Watergate Scandal.

"Gaslit" centres around the boisterous, personable Martha Mitchell (Roberts), wife of United States Attorney General and presidential campaign chairman John Mitchell (Penn) who served under President Nixon. In an unfortunate series of events, Martha Mitchell found herself swept into the chaos and subsequent cover-up of the Watergate Scandal, which inevitably impacted the rest of her life.

"Gaslit" is based on the first season of the Slate podcast "Slow burn," which examines the little-known details behind one of America's greatest political scandals. Ahead of the "Gaslit" premiere on April 24, here is all you need to know about the true story behind the dramatized series.

Who Was Martha Mitchell?

Martha Mitchell was born and raised in Arkansas, and met her second husband, John Mitchell, in the 1950s. When Richard Nixon was elected president in 1969, he appointed John Mitchell as his attorney general, whom he referred to as "his most trusted friend and advisor," according to the "Slow Burn" podcast. This special appointment pushed the Mitchells to move to Washington D.C., which helped her blossom as a socialite and develop her reputation as "the Mouth of the South." According to The Washington Post, "For years, the witty Southerner was the toast of town and television, often calling reporters and appearing on evening talk shows to joke about antiwar protesters and Supreme Court justices she didn't like."

Mitchell was so vocal, outspoken, and sometimes controversial, that she often worried many members of the Nixon Administration, including the president himself. According to the "Slow Burn" podcast, Nixon was so perturbed about Mitchell's behaviour that he once told his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, "We have to turn off Martha."

Little did anyone know at the time, Mitchell would become a key part of what would be known as the Watergate Scandal, and the eventual downfall of the Nixon Administration.

Image Source: Getty / Bettmann

What Was the Watergate Scandal?

By 1972, John Mitchell resigned as attorney general and took up a new job as Nixon's presidential campaign chairman for his re-election that year.

On June 17, 1972, five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, which were located in the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C. Among the men arrested in the break-in and burglary was James McCord, the security director of the president's re-election campaign, according to Newsweek. At the time, the administration tried its best to downplay the event, and according to The Washington Post, Haldeman "discussed how to get the CIA to tell the FBI to back off from the burglary investigation." A suspicious scandal like this had the potential to derail Nixon's re-election prospects, and the last thing he, or anyone in his administration wanted, was someone like Martha Mitchell making matters worse, but she did.

What Happened to Martha Mitchell?

The night of the Watergate burglary, John Mitchell immediately received news about the arrests. In an attempt to keep the soon-to-be scandal at bay, Mitchell "instructed security guards working for the campaign to keep his wife in the dark in California — and to stop her from calling members of the media," according to The Washington Post.

However, by that time, Martha already knew about the burglary and James McCord's arrest. With this information, Martha called Helen Thomas, a reporter for United Press International. According to Newsweek, while speaking with Thomas, Stephen King, an ex-FBI agent and security aide for the re-election committee, "rushed into her bedroom, threw her back across the bed, and ripped the telephone out of the wall."

Thomas tried to call Mitchell again, but was unable to reach her. It would later be revealed that Mitchell was held down and given a tranquilizer shot during this time and forcibly kept in her hotel room. Several days after the ordeal, Mitchell, covered in bruises, told the press, "I am a prisoner… I won't stand for this dirty business."

Mitchell was not only a victim of physical violence, but she soon became a victim of bad press. According to The Washington Post, the Nixon administration rebuffed her account, made her into a spectacle, and spread rumours that "she was an alcoholic suffering from mental illness."

What Was the Aftermath of the Watergate Scandal?

For Martha Mitchell, the stain the Watergate Scandal left on her reputation ruined the remainder of her life. She and John Mitchell split in 1973, and he remained loyal to Nixon until he was charged and convicted of conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice in 1975.

As for Martha, she lived the remainder of her life in isolation. She died alone at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in May 1976 from cancer at the age of 57. Shortly before her death, her attorney said that she was "desperately ill, without funds, and without friends."

Watch the unbelievable story of Martha Mitchell and the Watergate Scandal in "Gaslit," which airs on Starz starting April 24.