Soaked In Bleach, the new film that examines the evidence surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain, has been released to the public via Vimeo and a small number of theatrical showings. However, it seems that Cobain’s widow Courtney Love is trying to fix that, by having her lawyers sending out Cease & Desist letters to the individual theaters.

According to her lawyer, ““The Film falsely presents a widely and repeatedly debunked conspiracy theory that accuses Ms. Cobain of orchestrating the death of her husband Kurt Cobain… A false accusation of criminal behavior is defamatory … which entitles Ms. Cobain to both actual and presumed damages.” (read more here).

The impact of these letters has been almost unnoticeable, with most theaters ignoring them altogether. The producers of Soaked In Bleach responded in this statement:

“We were disturbed to learn that Courtney Love’s lawyers sent threatening letters to movie theaters all over the country. Most arrived before Soaked in Bleach was released last week, presumably before she or her lawyers ever saw it. She obviously hoped to scare theater owners into dropping the film. Thankfully, very few were intimidated. Most saw the letter for what it is – a cowardly attack on the rights of free speech, free expression and free choice.

Courtney Love’s uninformed accusations and efforts to discredit the film are totally off base. The film examines the well documented facts surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain and it questions much of what the public has been told about those events. Most of the opinions and theories presented in the film come directly from facts gathered by Tom Grant, the private investigator Courtney Love hired the week before Kurt’s body was discovered. Tom quickly became suspicious and tape recorded all his conversations with Courtney and others in the days leading up to and after Kurt’s death. The film uses those recordings to reenact Tom’s encounters with Courtney Love and others in Kurt’s inner circle. It also presents the views of Norm Stamper, Seattle’s Police Chief at the time, and Dr. Cyril Wecht, a leading forensic pathologist, who both question whether Kurt could have committed suicide.

Courtney Love and her lawyers clearly don’t like that the film presents a compelling case for re-opening the investigation into Kurt’s death. They should respect the First Amendment and let people decide for themselves.”

Love’s idea was surely to force the new film into obscurity, but it sure seems like all she ended up doing was calling more attention to it. You can view the trailer and purchase the film here.