Where the Crawdads Sing controversy explained amid official trailer drop ft. Daisy-Edgar Jones and Taylor Swift

The first official trailer for Where the Crawdads Sing dropped on Tuesday, March 22. The film is based on Delia Owens’ bestselling novel of the same name and stars Normal People fame Daisy-Edgar Jones in the lead role.

The trailer also featured a snippet of Taylor Swift’s new song Carolina in the film’s mysterious and haunting backdrop. The singer took to Instagram to announce her musical contributions to the project and said she wanted to create something haunting and ethereal to match the story:

The plot of the film revolves around its protagonist Kya, a young girl who grew up in the North Carolina swamps after being abandoned by her family. The girl refuses to go to school and mostly remains in isolation, enjoying the company of nature.

She also educates herself about nature and takes reading lessons from a local boy, who becomes her first love interest. Kya then becomes a bestselling writer of books on nature after gaining a deep understanding of the environment.

The girl eventually falls for the town’s popular boy Chase Andrews (played by Harris Dickinson), but their short-lived romance takes a dark turn after the latter is found dead. Kya is then accused of Chase’s murder and faces trial for the case.

Where the Crawdads Sing is produced by Reese Witherspoon and her company Hello Sunshine, known for adaptations of films like Gone Girl, Big Little Lies, Wild and Little Fires Everywhere.

Following the release of the trailer, Owen’s novel regained renewed attention and fans remembered the old controversy surrounding the book.

'Where the Crawdads Sing' novel author Delia Owens got involved in a murder mystery in Zambia (Image via Where the Crawdads Sing/Instagram)

Where the Crawdads Sing became an overnight phenomenon when it was released in 2018. The novel marked Delia Owens’ breakthrough in the world of writing after she spent years co-authoring non-fictional books with husband Mark Owens.

Her memoir titled The Eye of the Elephant and Cry of the Kalahari explored the journey of the couple during their stay in Botswana and Zambia and highlighted their conservation work alongside their efforts to save elephants and other species of the African fauna.

In 1995, a crew from ABC’s Turning Point arrived in Zambia to film Owens’ conservation efforts. However, they ended up documenting the growing tensions between Owens’ and local poachers.

A 1996 Turning Point episode titled Deadly Game: The Mark and Delia Owens Story showed Mark Owens ordering scouts to shoot local poachers at first sight.

Following the release of the episode, the Owens family wrote to the ABC and mentioned that the “shoot to kill policy” was only used as self defense by Zambian Government Game Scouts and is not a policy of their project.

However, the Turning Point episode took a darker turn after it showed the death of an alleged poacher on camera. The unidentified man, dubbed as a “trespasser,” was shot several times by an unknown scout.

Journalist Meredith Viera, who covered Mark and Delia’s work in Africa, explained that the camera crew was allowed to accompany patrols in Zambia with the condition of keeping the identities of shooting victims undisclosed.

Mark and Delia Owens denied any involvement in the shooting incident but are currently wanted by the Zambian government for questioning in connection to the murder.

Meanwhile, cameraman Chris Everson, who filmed the shooting encounter, claimed that Mark’s son and Delia’s stepson Christopher Owens allegedly fired the "first and final shots" on the deceased man.

Everson also spoke about the incident during a 2010 interview with The New Yorker:

"I don’t know what was going on in Chris’s mind... He had a rush of blood to the head. I don’t know why he shot him in the first place."

Detective Biemba Musole further claimed that Mark Owens allegedly disposed of the dead body of the victim into a lake using his personal helicopter. However, Marks denied the claims and Delia mentioned that her stepson was not in Zambia during the shooting.

However, The New Yorker noted that Everson and another Turning Point journalist, Deborah Amos, reported seeing Christopher Owens in the camp after the incident.

Following the release of the episode, the Zambian government started a homicide investigation into the murder. This prompted Mark and Delia Owens to leave the country and move to the U.S. They have not returned to Zambia ever since and no one has been officially charged for the murder.

Warning: Major Where the Crawdads Sing spoilers ahead!

Several years after the controversy surrounding Delia Owens and her husband, the former released her bestselling debut novel Where the Crawdads Sing in 2018.

After the release of the publication, journalist Laura Miller wrote a story on Slate and drew comparisons between the novel’s protagonist and Delia’s real life. Kya and Delia both prefer the company of nature and live surrounded by natural habitats.

Kya also becomes a successful but eventually gets involved in a legal battle for the murder of local high-school athlete Chase Andrews, much like Delia’s real-life story in Zambia. However, the most chilling twist arrives when Kya is revealed to be the actual murderer in the final pages of the novel.

Although Delia Owens is not considered to be directly involved in the murder in Zambia, her life experiences have an uncanny resemblance to the story in her novel.

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Twitter calls out Where the Crawdads Sing author after film trailer

Delia Owens' past controversy gained renewed attention after 'Where the Crawdads Sing' trailer release (Image via Delia Owens/Instagram)

Where the Crawdads Sing became a global sensation after its publication in August 2018. It gained further prominence after being selected for Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick in September 2018.

The novel became a #1 New York Times bestseller and sold more than 1 million copies. It also has a rating of 4.5 stars on Goodreads and earned nominations for both Edgar and Goodreads Choice Awards.

Despite the success of the novel, Delia Owens’ life has always been under scrutiny for the past controversy from Zambia. Following the release of the upcoming Where the Crawdads Sing trailer, several people took to Twitter to call out the author and her work:

As reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if Delia Owens will address the situation in the days to come. Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon and her company have also maintained their silence over the issue.

Where the Crawdads Sing is set to hit theaters in July 2022.