Chris Hansen didn’t get to take a seat for the new A24 movie “Primetime.”
The 66-year-old veteran journalist went to the offices of indie distributor A24 to watch the Lance Oppenheim film, in which he is played by Robert Pattinson, before it bows at the Venice Film Festival. He left without seeing it.
The former “To Catch a Predator” host went on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” to say he showed up at the studio’s offices for a 10 a.m. private screening of “Primetime” on Thursday. The Pattinson-led drama is built around Hansen’s run atop the hidden-camera franchise. But Hansen claims he walked away after refusing to sign a legal agreement he describes as unlike anything he has encountered in four decades on the beat.
“The lawyers at A24 wanted me to sign away my rights to my name, image and brand essentially, as well as any potential legal rights that would come out of the movie,” Hansen says during the appearance. “I couldn’t sign that, so they didn’t show me the film. I went all the way over there.”
Pressed by Watters on whether he walked in without legal cover, Hansen says his attorneys had already reviewed the paperwork and advised against signing. “Of course not,” he says when asked if he put his name to anything without a lawyer present. “This was a very restrictive agreement. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
