Many of the events in the story actually happened. Even the scene in which Handsome starts bashing the lockers and ripping off his shirt when Harkin accuses him and his friends of cheating on the test.
The real Applebee refused to take part in the documentary based on the actual Cheats, and as such his name had to be censored whenever used.
Though filmed for theaters and having had a lot of marketing done by the studio, the film's theatrical release was canceled at the last minute and it premiered on HBO and Cinemax instead. This was New Line Cinema's only film not to be broadcast on Starz, despite their long pay-TV deal with Starz, since 1995. It wasn't until 2005, New Line moved their pay-TV deal with HBO and Cinemax.