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Chris Hansen disputes A24's 'Primetime' portrayal of To Catch a Predator

Chris Hansen has criticised A24's "Primetime", in which Robert Pattinson plays him, as fiction. He is running theatre ads and promoting a documentary; director Lance Oppenheim defends his approach.

3 outlets · 0L · 1C · 2R First reported Account updated

Updated (version 2). New coverage since the last version from Screen Rant.

Image: Fox News
Image: Screen Rant
Image: Breitbart

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The story, neutrally told

Chris Hansen, former host of To Catch a Predator, has publicly criticised A24's film "Primetime", directed by Lance Oppenheim and starring Robert Pattinson as Hansen. Fox News says the film, released Friday, dramatises the investigations, including the death of Bill Conradt, a Texas prosecutor who died by suicide as police arrived to execute warrants after an online sting. On the "Planet Tyrus" podcast, Hansen said nothing in the trailer except his name and "have a seat" happened in real life, calling it "complete fiction"; he said he had not seen the film then and had no input.

In an interview reported by Breitbart, citing The Wrap, Hansen gave Pattinson's performance a "D" and called the film "mean-spirited, untrue and unworthy of the viewer’s time", objecting most to being shown as an aloof, detached father. Hansen has no issue with Pattinson, whom Fox reports he called a "good actor", and aims his criticism at the filmmakers and Hollywood. Hansen said the studio wanted him to sign away rights to his name, image and brand before an early viewing; A24 disputes this and says it asked only for a limited non-disclosure agreement.

Hansen said 30-second ads will run on 3,500 screens during the film's first month, pointing viewers to his streaming service TruBlu, and he is shopping a documentary, "I’m Chris Hansen", to streamers. Hansen said several lawyers have raised a lawsuit, but he is not "eager" to file one. Oppenheim told W Magazine he had "everything I needed", citing a Cameo video Hansen recorded, Hansen's book and blog, and a talk with a hidden-camera operator, saying the film adapted "the Internet's version of Chris Hansen".

Screen Rant, reviewing the film, describes it as a fictionalised account with horror elements, and says the Conradt sequence is based on the real November 2006 operation but changes details such as the time of day.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
A spoiler-heavy analysis reading the film as horror, tied to the real 2006 Conradt case.
Emphasis
The film's themes, the dark figure and how it departs from the real operation.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention Hansen's criticism, the ads, the NDA dispute or the lawsuit talk.
Charged language
“Disturbing Real-Life Connection”
For example
“Primetime gives To Catch a Predator the feel of a horror movie” — Screen Rant

Right2 outlets

Framing
Coverage centres on Hansen's rebuttal of the film, with his quotes leading and, in Fox's piece, his counter-measures and Oppenheim's reply.
Emphasis
Hansen's grievances, the ads on 3,500 screens, TruBlu, the documentary and the possible lawsuit.
Leaves out or plays down
Little on the film's content or critical reception; Breitbart omits Oppenheim's response.
Charged language
“Bashes”“rips”“complete fiction”“mean-spirited”
For example
“Chris Hansen Bashes Robert Pattinson’s ‘Primetime'” — Breitbart
“reveals how he’s fighting back” — Fox News