Is The Big Cigar On Apple TV+ Based On True Story?
Apple TV+’s The New Cigar mentions real-life personalities like Huey P. Newton and Bert Schneider, so let’s find out if the show is based on a true story.
Starring André Holland and Alessandro Nivola, The Big Cigar on Apple TV+ is a thriller series about Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton. After being charged with murder, Newton goes on the run from the FBI. Film producer Bert Schneider helps the political activist escape by producing a fake movie.
Since the show features names of real-life personalities like Newton and Schneider, audiences might be curious if The Big Cigar is based on a real story. So, did Schneider go to the lengths of producing a faux movie for Newton’s escape? Read on to find out.
The True Story Behind The Big Cigar
The Big Cigar is based on a fascinating true story that many may find difficult to believe. In real life, Huey P. Newton escaped to Cuba with Bert Schneider’s help. Newton was a political activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966 to fight against police violence and unfair treatment of Black Americans. In 1967, the activist was accused of killing Oakland Police Department officer John Frey, followed by his arrest for the murder of a 17-year-old girl named Kathleen Smith in 1974.
Meanwhile, Schneider was a film and television producer known for bankrolling films like Easy Rider, The Last Picture Show, and Days of Heaven. He firmly believed in the Black Panther movement and developed a close friendship with Newton by the early 1970s. So when Newton needed someone’s help in escaping the authorities before Smith’s murder trial, Schneider came to his rescue.
As seen in The Big Cigar, Schneider planned to smuggle Newton to Cuba, where he could get political asylum. Not only did the film producer help the activist financially, but he also pretended to produce a movie to cover up his plan. The scheme was successful as Newton fled to Havana, Cuba, where he lived with his wife, Gwen Fontaine, for three years. This delayed Smith’s murder trial, which finally went into action when Newton returned to the US in 1977.
So, The Big Cigar does tell an unbelievable true story; however, the creators have taken some creative liberties to make the narrative more engaging and dramatic. Joshuah Bearman documented the whole plan of Newton’s escape in his 2012 Playboy magazine article, which formed the basis of the Apple TV+ series.
