Michael Bay found himself at the center of a highly publicized story this past week. It was reported that the veteran film director had been charged with killing a pigeon, an act that allegedly took place in Italy while he was filming 6 Underground (which can be streamed using a Netflix subscription). At the time the news was reported, Bay released a statement in which he denied the allegations, and he now has more to say. Not only is the filmmaker doubling down on his assertion that the story is false, but he’s also gotten a lawyer involved.
The Transformers filmmaker has reportedly made a request of TheWrap, which broke the news of the situation involving the pigeon. Mathew Rosengart, the director’s attorney sent a letter – which was obtained by Variety – to the news outlet. In the message, the lawyer denied the trade’s notion that “Michael Bay had been accused or ‘charged’ with ‘killing a pigeon’ in connection with a film he directed." Rosengart also referred to the headline and story as “false, reckless, and defamatory.” With this, he’s asking that the publication retract or correct the story. The note also reads:
As you know, Mr. Bay was never accused, much less ‘charged,’ with ‘killing’ an animal. Indeed, prior to publication, you were placed on notice of the existence of video evidence rebutting these allegations and demonstrating that at no time was any animal harmed, let alone ‘killed.’ Further, as you also know (but failed to publish), 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.
In the original report, someone close to the blockbuster production alleged that the incident involved a homing pigeon being killed by a dolly under the Ambulance director’s watch. Pigeons are considered a protected species in Italy and, under the country’s law, they cannot be killed, harmed or captured.
Michael Bay said via his initial statement that “no animal involved in the production was injured or harmed” on the set of the movie or any project he’s made over the past several decades. Bay, who admitted that he couldn’t get into specifics at the time due to this being an ongoing case, also stated that he was given the opportunity to settle by paying a fine but opted not to do so because he “would not plead guilty to having harmed an animal.” As noted in Matthew Rosengart's statement on his behalf, the Bad Boys director considers himself a "well-known animal lover and major animal activist."
6 Underground, which began principal photography in July 2018, was a massive undertaking, as the film was shot in Italy, Budapest, Los Angeles and the United Arab Emirates. The gritty story focuses on a group of individuals who become vigilantes after faking their deaths, and it stars Ryan Reynolds, Dave Franco, Adria Arjona and Corey Hawkins. When it was released the following year, the movie was streamed by a lot of Netflix subscribers. The action film seemed to be setting up a franchise, and even the stars had ideas about potential cast additions. Updates on a second installment have been scarce, and it’s unclear as to whether this latest development will have any bearing on such a project.
As of this writing, TheWrap has yet to formally respond to Matthew Rosengart’s letter on behalf of Michael Bay. It’s currently unclear as to how this situation might progress and how Bay’s legal situation will pan out.
