Photographer Nick Ut Sues Netflix Over ‘Napalm Girl’ Documentary

Vietnam War photographer Nick Ut filed a lawsuit against Netflix in January 2025, claiming defamation over the documentary 'The Stringer' which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and questions the origin of his famous 'Napalm Girl' photograph that won numerous awards. The documentary, directed by Bao Nguyen, follows a two-year investigation by journalist Gary Knight, founder of the VII Foundation that supports photojournalism. Knight examined a claim from a former Associated Press photo editor who alleged he had been ordered in 1972 to misattribute the photograph, giving Ut credit for the iconic image that became known as 'Napalm Girl' and symbolized the horrors of the Vietnam War. Taken in 1972, the photograph shows a naked girl running from a napalm attack in Trang Bang, South Vietnam. The image, which earned Ut a Pulitzer Prize, has become one of the most iconic war photographs of all time. The lawsuit highlights the ongoing tension between documentary filmmaking and journalistic integrity, particularly when questioning established historical narratives and the work of photojournalists who risked their lives to document war.