Karen Read, Lawyer Alan Jackson to Host Weekly True Crime Video Podcast

Karen Read, who was acquitted of murder last year in the death of her boyfriend, Boston police Officer John O'Keefe, will co-host a weekly true crime video podcast with Alan Jackson, the defense attorney who represented her at trial. The show, titled "Read Between the Lines," comes from Crime House, the true crime brand of creator media company Pave Studios, and is set to premiere on YouTube in early 2027, The Hollywood Reporter reported in an exclusive published Thursday, Oct. 29.

The series will also be released as an audio-only podcast on all major platforms, according to the report. CBS Boston, citing Pave Studios, reported that each week Read and Jackson will take on a current criminal case and examine how it was investigated and prosecuted. The deal was brokered by UTA Creators on behalf of Read and Jackson, and financial terms were not disclosed, according to Podcast News Daily.

What the show will cover

Pave describes the program as a series that aims to "take a fresh new look at the modern justice system from the eyes of a wrongly accused woman and her trial lawyer." The company said the hosts will examine "a new real-world case each week, from local controversies like Sandra Birchmore to national headlines like the Kohberger Idaho slayings."

"They reconstruct what happened, examine how the case was investigated and prosecuted, and identify the details, decisions and evidence that may have been overlooked or misunderstood," Pave said, in a description that the company also republished on its own website.

In a statement the company posted to Instagram, Pave added that the hosts will also look at how cases were "covered." "Each week, they'll take on a current case and examine how it was investigated, prosecuted, and covered, from the details that may have been overlooked to the decisions that shaped the outcome," the company said, as quoted by The Boston Globe. "Most people in true crime study the story. Karen lived it," Pave Studios said, according to CBS Boston.

What the hosts and Pave said

Read described Jackson's role on the show. "Alan isn't simply analyzing these cases from the sideline," Read told The Hollywood Reporter. "As one of the country's most prominent trial attorneys, he's represented high-profile clients in some of the most closely watched and scrutinized legal battles, many of which turned out to be far different from how they first appeared."

Jackson, in turn, pointed to his client's own experience. "When the justice system falters, lives hang in the balance. Karen has a unique firsthand perspective of our system's imperfections, understanding what it means when a legal case becomes a media narrative and the public reaches a verdict long before a courtroom does," he said.

Pave Studios founder and CEO Max Cutler said the pairing gives the company a different angle in a crowded category. "Karen knows what it's like to be on the other side of a true crime story, and Alan has spent his career inside the courtroom," Cutler said. "Each week they'll take on a new case with a perspective almost no one in this genre can offer, and that's what makes this show unlike anything we've done."

The case behind the hosts

Prosecutors had charged Read, 46, with second-degree murder, alleging that she backed her SUV into O'Keefe early on Jan. 29, 2022, after dropping him off outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reported. The defense argued she was framed. Her first trial ended in July 2024 with a mistrial due to a deeply divided jury, according to CBS Boston.

At her retrial, the jury acquitted her of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, CBS Boston reported. She was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and sentenced to one year of probation. Jackson has said there was a flawed police investigation that was corrupted in an effort to frame Read.

The legal fallout has continued. After her acquittal, Read filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and Canton police alleging "a culture of bias and corruption," and key witnesses in the trials have sued her for defamation, according to CBS Boston. She also faces a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the O'Keefe family. The Globe noted that a number of related civil lawsuits remain pending.

The case drew national attention and was the subject of the Investigation Discovery docuseries "A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read," The Hollywood Reporter noted, adding that a scripted series is in the works for Amazon Prime Video.

Crime House expands across platforms

The new show joins a Crime House slate that has been moving beyond podcast apps. Earlier this month, Pave announced that its original video podcast "Clues" and a new show, "Mother Knows Murder," will stream on Disney+ and Hulu, Podnews reported on Oct. 16. "It's the first of many places we expect these stories to go," Cutler said at the time.

The Hollywood Reporter said it is possible "Read Between the Lines" may ultimately land on Disney+ and Hulu as part of that arrangement. Pave's broader portfolio also includes OpenMind, which produces "Khloé in Wonder Land" with Khloé Kardashian, and Rewind, a history-focused brand launched this year, according to Podcast News Daily.