We Raise a Toast to Nellie Bly!

Channel Guide Magazine
Members of the Channel Guide Magazine staff raise a toast to Nellie Bly and Lifetime's biopic starring Christina Ricci.

In honor of the Sunday premiere of Lifetime’s Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story, members of our staff raised a glass of emBRAZEN Wines’ Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was sent to us by the wine company in conjunction to and in celebration of the film, and features an image and quote of the intrepid journalist on the label.

Nellie Bly
emBRAZEN Cabernet Sauvignon featuring Nellie Bly as its moxie-filled inspiration and label model. Channel Guide Magazine

Christina Ricci stars in the thrilling film, which tells the saga of Bly, who feigned insanity and allowed herself to be committed to the notorious Women’s Lunatic Asylum on New York’s Blackwell’s Island. While there, she observed the center’s deplorable living conditions and inhumane treatment of its patients. Her shocking 1887 expose in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, titled “Behind Asylum Bars,” riveted the nation and led to global mental health reform.

Ricci perfectly captures the fire and fight of Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, who wrote under the pen name Nelly Bly. Though the film is a fictional portrayal of Bly’s experience in the asylum, Ricci pulls us along for Bly’s struggle and imbues her character with strength and courage.

emBRAZEN wines celebrates the rebellious nature of other fearless females: its Chardonnay is dedicated to the dazzling voice of Celia Cruz, and its red blend plays homage to entertainer and spy, Josephine Baker. And in our offices, we raise a glass to Ricci, Bly and all others who dare to defy convention.

Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story > Lifetime > Saturday, Jan. 19 at 8/7c

Read our interview with Christina Ricci here.


Additional reporting by Taylor Neumann.