A new movie will follow a young, male reporter as he desperately chases an exclusive story about former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. And the woman who actually helped break the news of Ford's drug use isn't too impressed.
The casting decision for "Run This Town" was met with sarcasm by former Toronto Star reporter Robyn Doolittle. She wrote several in-depth stories on Ford, and later authored a book about him called "Crazy Town."
"I'm glad they're rewriting the fact that it was a female reporter who investigated Rob Ford," she wrote on Twitter on Monday. "Why have a woman be a lead character when a man could do it? Ammaright?"
In 2013, Doolittle and her colleague Kevin Donovan broke the story about drug dealers shopping around a video of Ford smoking crack cocaine.
Ben Platt, who has been cast as the reporter, responded to Doolittle directly and denied that the film is about her work.
"I have the utmost respect for your accomplishments," wrote Platt. "I play a totally fictionalized character, an entitled, incapable entry-level reporter ... at a fictional competing newspaper. The film alludes to the successful reporting from the Toronto Star."
Platt elaborated in a statement: "The film is in no way based on Robyn Doolittle and the film does not attempt to co-opt her narrative. It is historical fiction."
Doolittle now works for the Globe and Mail as an investigative reporter.
Damian Lewis of "Homeland" will star as Ford, but the film is not a biopic, according to its writer-director.
"This isn't the Rob Ford story,'' Ricky Tollman told The Canadian Press. Rather, he said it's about a young journalist and other millennials struggling to succeed. The film is filming in Toronto but no release date has been set.
"It was a surprise to me people took three words out of the description of the film and spun it into something that it's not, without having read the script," he said.
The synopsis describes "Run This Town" as the story of "a young journalist, desperate to prove himself, who catches wind of a scandal involving a flashy, unpredictable politician with no filter. Political aides attempt to keep their boss in check — and the story under wraps — in order to save their jobs.''
Ford entered rehab in the summer of 2014 for addiction issues. He later ran for re-election as mayor but abandoned the bid after he was diagnosed with pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
While undergoing multiple rounds of chemotherapy, Ford was elected to his old council seat.
In 2016, Ford died of cancer at the age of 46.
His older brother, Doug Ford, is currently running to be premier of Ontario under the Progressive Conservative banner.
Previously On HuffPost: