 For years, a political storm has raged over the C.I.A.’s role in the production of Zero Dark Thirty, the Oscar-winning film about the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden that several politicians accused of promoting enhanced interrogation and endangering the lives of the real people involved in the raid. * * * 
 
 The previously undisclosed detail about Boal's phone call to the CIA was included in more than 100 pages of internal CIA documents obtained exclusively by VICE News in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The ethics report contains remarkable details about how Bigelow and Boal gave CIA officers gifts and bought them meals at hotels and restaurants in Los Angeles and Washington, DC — much of which initially went unreported by the CIA officers — how they won unprecedented access to secret details about the bin Laden operation, and how they got agency officers and officials to review and critique the ZDT script. In return, the officers allegedly gave the filmmakers, who did not have security clearances, sensitive but unclassified information about the bin Laden raid. According to the report, the dinners ranged in fanciness from room-service grilled cheese and fries (sometimes at the Ritz-Carlton) to meals at Citronelle, one of the most expensive restaurants in Washington, D.C., before it closed in 2012. And Bigelow’s gift of a pair of “black Tahitian pearl earrings” to the female officer—which she did not report to her superiors—were actually fakes so cheap they weren’t even worth a formal appraisal: 
 
 During the inspector general's investigation, the officer voluntarily turned over the earrings to the CIA watchdog so that they could be appraised. "The jeweler offered his professional opinion that the earrings were not worth a formal appraisal, citing the pearls were painted, not genuine black pearls, and that the posts were not platinum," the inspector general's report said. "The jeweler said the appraisal would cost more than the earrings. The jeweler also said that he estimated the value of the earrings to be ‘no more than $200’ but ‘would ask between $60 and $70 if he were selling the earrings on eBay.’” 
 
 Does it count as bribery if the luxury goods are knockoffs? 'I was able to find the tequila we discussed online,' the CIA employee wrote. Bigelow and Boal were said to sometimes over-value the price of their gifts. The officer admitted he had not reported to the CIA a gift he received from Boal — a bottle of tequila that Boal said "was worth several hundred dollars." They also dined at the exclusive Soho House in Los Angeles (where Boal, according to the report, repeatedly offered tickets to the premiere of Zero Dark Thirty), and at one point, Boal took the female officer on an eight-hour shopping trip that ended with the officer being offered tickets to an upcoming Prada fashion show. The officers themselves were not punished, due to the report finding a general lack of guidance regarding gifts on the agency's part, and the fact that they did not leak any classified information. asked the Department of Justice to prosecute Boal and Bigelow for bribing public officials, but were declined and given the suggestion of taking "administrative action" on their end. In a statement provided to VICE News, CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said the agency did, in fact, take action. "In the wake of 'Zero Dark Thirty,' CIA has completely overhauled its procedures for interaction with the entertainment industry.
– The music industry sometimes uses payola to achieve its goals, and the movie industry apparently uses ... fake pearl earrings and tequila. The screenwriter and director of the hit film Zero Dark Thirty are accused of bribing CIA officials to receive sensitive information, according to CIA documents obtained by Vice. The Inspector General's office found that the film—which depicts the search for Osama bin Laden and the Navy SEAL raid that killed him—was at least partially padded with information obtained under dubious means. Screenwriter Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow—who did not have security clearances, according to Vanity Fair—allegedly used gifts and promises of premiere tickets to get inside information from the government officers. A female officer upon whom Jessica Chastain's character was based received an eight-hour shopping trip, according to the report, and other CIA officers allegedly received dinners at expensive restaurants and room service at fancy hotels. The Hollywood big shots are also accused of overstating the value of some of the bribes, with an alleged "several hundred dollar" bottle of tequila actually being worth less than $200. "Black Tahitian pearl earrings," meanwhile, were actually fake pearls painted black and mounted to cheap metal posts. In the end, neither the filmmakers nor the CIA officers were punished for the suspect activities, and Zero Dark Thirty grossed more than $132 million.