Chris Hansen says A24’s “Primetime,” with Robert Pattinson playing a fictionalized version of him, uses his name and recognizable mannerisms to profit from a reputation he spent 45 years building. After watching the film, the “To Catch a Predator” journalist told Variety in an Oct. 1 interview that lawyers are reviewing a possible legal challenge.
“If you’re gonna make a fictional film, why do you use my name?” Hansen asked. “The reason you use it is because I’ve spent 45 years creating a very valuable brand, and they wanted to exploit it.”
He says the filmmakers never consulted him and that the disclaimer identifying the story as fiction comes at the end. His objection is to attaching invented behavior, motives and conversations to his real identity. “A lot of people think that’s identity theft in one way or another,” he told Variety.
Directed by Lance Oppenheim, the movie draws on a 2009 Esquire article about Louis William Conradt Jr., a Texas assistant district attorney who died by suicide during a 2006 police sting coordinated with the “Predator” team. The original “Dateline” segment ran from 2004 to 2007, with adult decoys posing as minors and Hansen confronting men who arrived for encounters before police arrested them.
Hansen disputes the film’s suggestion that his team pressured police to arrest Conradt. In his account, police obtained a warrant themselves, and his crew filmed from the street. He also rejects the depicted breakdown after Conradt’s death and says the conversations shown in the film never occurred.
His complaints extend to his personal life and former NBC colleagues. He says the film rearranges the timing of events involving his love life, depicts him yelling at colleagues when he never did, and invents exchanges with former NBC executive Jeff Zucker. Hansen described their actual relationship as warm and constructive.
NBC told Variety: “The movie is a fictionalized portrayal of events from nearly two decades ago that were extensively reported at the time.”
Pattinson and Oppenheim have both received invitations to Hansen’s podcast, Hansen said, while also praising Pattinson’s acting. He isn’t asking people to avoid the movie. His platform, TruBlu, bought advertising before screenings in virtually every U.S. theater showing “Primetime,” and he says the film has brought more viewers to his current work.
Legal action remains a possibility rather than an announced lawsuit. Hansen says lawyers are examining the matter and he’ll discuss it in upcoming meetings, but there’s no rush.
