Filmmaker Michael Bay has slammed a story from TheWrap as “false, reckless and defamatory” after the publication reported he was going through costs linked to the killing of a pigeon on the set of the 2019 Netflix movie “6 Underground,” according to Variety.
The feedback come after TheWrap reported that he was going through costs in Italy related to the killing of a pigeon, a protected species within the nation.
Bay, in a press release to the publication, referred to himself as a widely known animal lover and main animal activist.
“No animal involved in the production was injured or harmed. Or on any other production I’ve worked on in the past 30 years,” he mentioned in a press release.
TheWrap talked about an unnamed “insider” in its report that claimed a dolly killed a homing pigeon throughout a soak up Rome whereas one other supply mentioned “the scene involved a large group of pigeons and a wind machine.”
The publication reported that Bay was charged “with failing to supervise the crew members responsible for handling the animals,” based on Fabrizio Sigma, an Italian lawyer.
Bay’s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, in a authorized letter obtained by Variety, referred to as the TheWrap’s headline “false, reckless and defamatory” and slammed its reporting.
“As you know, Mr. Bay was never accused, much less ‘charged,’ with ‘killing’ an animal,” Rosengart wrote within the letter.
He added that TheWrap, previous to the report’s publication, was knowledgeable of video proof “rebutting” the allegations of animal hurt.
Photo by Thomas Samson/AFP by way of Getty Images
The letter continued: “The only ‘charge’ at issue in Italy concerns whether, in his capacity as the film’s director, Mr. Bay failed to properly supervise crew members (whom he did not even have the ability to hire) responsible for handling the animals on set. That charge is being vigorously defended — and indeed, Mr. Bay feels so strongly that, to his credit, he refused to settle the case even for the nominal fine that was proposed by authorities to resolve it.”
The letter additionally points a requirement to TheWrap: an “immediate retraction or correction” of the story.
HuffPost tried to succeed in out to TheWrap for touch upon the letter however a cellphone quantity related to the publication had a full mailbox.
