Keanu Reeves has asked a federal judge to show “leniency and mercy” toward director Carl Rinsch, who was convicted of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million tied to a sci-fi project that was never completed. In a letter obtained by Deadline, Reeves described Rinsch as a longtime friend and “exceptional artist,” while making clear that he was not excusing the conduct that led to the conviction.
Rinsch, who directed Reeves in 47 Ronin, was found guilty in December 2025 after a one-week trial in Manhattan. Federal prosecutors said he used Netflix funding intended for the unfinished series White Horse for personal spending, failed investments and speculative trading. The show began development around 2017 and was originally backed by much larger sums from Netflix before the additional $11 million payment in March 2020.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, the money was moved through several bank accounts and into a personal brokerage account, then spent on luxury purchases and other personal expenses. Prosecutors said the spending included credit card bills, furniture, antiques, mattresses, a Swiss watch, and several high-end cars, among them five Rolls-Royces and a red Ferrari. They also said he lost about half of the money in a matter of months through failed investments.
Reeves wrote that he had known Rinsch for about 15 years and stayed in touch after filming 47 Ronin. He said he attended Rinsch’s wedding in Uruguay in 2014 and had visited the director and his wife at their Los Angeles home over the years. Reeves said he had seen White Horse in its unfinished form and regarded it as a “superb and visionary work of art.”
In the letter, Reeves said he was speaking as an “artistic peer” and a friend, not as a therapist or psychologist. He suggested that Rinsch could be prone to self-sabotage by enlarging the scale of projects beyond what had been agreed, adding that this was not meant to diminish the seriousness of what he had been found guilty of doing. He said he had seen Rinsch bring “exceptional joy and warmth” to others and hoped the court would consider mercy.
Rinsch now faces sentencing on June 29. He was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, along with five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years. His lawyer previously said he feared the case could set a dangerous precedent for artists involved in contractual disputes with major entertainment companies. Netflix declined to comment on the conviction.
