I followed her. She looked back and kept running.
I followed her calls. Until I realized they were pleas behind me, calling my name. Begging me to stop.
CHAPTER 2
THE INTERVIEW
2021
The following is a transcript of the televised and streamed interview of model and actress Marlow Fin that aired July 3, 2021, on NBC. More than 36.1 million people worldwide have watched the interview. Veteran journalist Jodi Lee was specifically chosen by Ms. Fin for the interview.
When asked about the interview, Ms. Lee would later say, “I still wake up and think about it. I do . . . I really do. I can’t get any of it out of my mind. And that makes me think I can’t be the only one who feels this way.”
[Introduction from set]
JODI LEE: Good evening. Thank you for joining me on this Fourth of July weekend. In one of the most anticipated interviews in the last decade, maybe even going further back, I had the privilege of speaking with Marlow Fin. Under Ms. Fin’s strict direction, I was chosen as the interviewer. Under the terms of our agreement, the interview was prerecorded. NDAs were signed on a very small, closed set. No one, and I mean no one other than a select few, has seen or heard the contents of this interview.
I begin with Marlow Fin. Who is she? That may seem a strange question, as the world knows her well. One of the most prominent models and actresses of our time. But now we all want to know another side of her. Could it be possible? Was she involved in the tragic incident that occurred on September 7, 2020?
[Roll package]
JODI LEE: You’ve seen her on every magazine cover. Her ads are everywhere you look. “That Face,” as people have deemed her. Many say it’s an unforgettable one. You can’t look at “that face” without staring. Modeling since she was a teen, Marlow almost instantly became the staple for every major fashion house, eventually foraying into acting. Growing up in Henley, Minnesota, a small suburb of the Twin Cities, Marlow’s childhood did not start out like any other. That’s because Marlow doesn’t remember much before the age of six.
[Studio]
JODI LEE: You say you don’t have any memory before the age of six. Does that still hold true?
MARLOW FIN: For the most part.
JODI LEE: Hello, by the way. I don’t think we ever actually said hello to each other.
[Extends hand out, they shake]
MARLOW FIN: [Laughs] Hello, Jodi Lee. Do you know why I chose you?
JODI LEE: Chose me?
MARLOW FIN: I would not do this interview unless it was you.
JODI LEE: I guess I have wondered that. Why me, then?
MARLOW FIN: What happened to you was an injustice. I always thought that—that you should have stayed as cohost. It could have and should have been the start of something that meant so much to so many. The way you were ousted was wrong.
JODI LEE: [Shifts in seat] I think . . . I’ve managed okay since.
MARLOW FIN: Of course. But doesn’t it bother you? He got you kicked off the show. And now he remains untouched. I suppose he will have to be left to karma. So I’m handing you the biggest interview of your life.
JODI LEE: Well . . . I don’t know how to respond to that. But this isn’t just a big interview. This is the only interview you have ever given. Up until right now, this moment, you have never given an interview.
MARLOW FIN: Correct. I never liked the idea of talking to someone where every phrase, word, syllable of their question was simply a leech in the air, to eventually land on me and take all it could.
JODI LEE: And this interview is different from that?
MARLOW FIN: You’re not a leech. And I am here to speak a truth.
JODI LEE: How do we know you are telling the truth?
MARLOW FIN: I have nothing to gain from lying.
JODI LEE: That’s something I want to believe, Marlow. That the viewers want to believe, in fact. But here we are sitting across from each other. We are here because people want to know something. They want to know how a beautiful, successful, famous person such as yourself could possibly be involved with what happened on September 7, 2020.
MARLOW FIN: Of course they do. People are fascinated with anything that deflects from themselves. Why do you think they’re fascinated with questioning someone before a potential downfall? We are a culture that puts our hands on the back of anyone standing on the edge of a cliff.
JODI LEE: I don’t think many people would disagree with that.
MARLOW FIN: People love to put other people in glass jars. America loves a good, tasty interview, Jodi.
JODI LEE: Aren’t you deflecting now?
MARLOW FIN: Not at all.
JODI LEE: Before we get to that Labor Day weekend nearly a year ago, I think it’s time people knew more about you. Before you were famous. Before all the cameras and glamorous photo shoots. Let’s go back to how your childhood was a little . . . different, shall we say? Would you say you had a good childhood?
MARLOW FIN: I had a decent childhood. For the most part anyways. I really did. I feel lucky I was given that because I don’t think I would be here today if I hadn’t been. I don’t think anyone can say their upbringing was completely normal. Sure, there are skeletons. Did it start out normal? No. There is nothing normal about what happened.
JODI LEE: Can you take us back to that day? To what you do remember? Twenty-six years ago. That’s a long time, I know. But what can you recall?
MARLOW FIN: I was found in the woods near Grand Marais, Minnesota, along Lake Superior. I was six years old when she found me.
