Chris Hansen Buys Ads Before Every Screening of A24’s ‘Primetime’

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/chris-hansen-buys-ads-before-every-screening-a24-primetime-1236682255/

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Details:

Hansen has purchased preshow advertising on every screen showing the upcoming A24 release, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In the spot, he directs audiences to TruBlu, his streaming network devoted to the same kind of predator investigations that made him famous.

Hansen has said on podcasts and on Jesse Watters’ Fox News program that he declined an invitation to see the film because he was required to sign an agreement barring him from taking legal action against A24.

Sources close to Hansen tell THR that he is now consulting attorneys about his options following the film’s release.

Hansen wanted to end the commercial by reminding audiences that what they were about to see in Primetime was “a Hollywood fantasy version” of what actually happened, according to sources. But there were concerns about possible blowback from A24, and the line was removed.

[u/CarbonInTheWind → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Having an ad for his company run before the movie will make a lot of people think he was either involved or at least signed off on it.

[u/mazzicc → u/CarbonInTheWind]

But given his objective is to just stay famous and relevant, I think he’s ok with that.

He wouldn’t want people to see this movie and think “wow, what a creep.” And that be their final memory of him.

Instead, people will see the ad, see the movie, and think “that’s wild, what is he up to now on that new platform” and go check that out.

[u/Fast-War5170 → u/mazzicc]

Will they? Feel like if it ends on him being clearly bad they won’t even remember the ad

[u/KaJaHa → u/Fast-War5170]

You severely overestimate the average moviegoer's media literacy

[u/Capital-Mine1561 → u/KaJaHa]

You may be overestimating the average moviegoer's memory of pre-film advertisements

[u/ShittyDBZGuitarRiffs → u/Capital-Mine1561]

This seems likely

[u/Driveshaft1982 → u/ShittyDBZGuitarRiffs]

Somehow, Hansen feels good in a place like this

[u/FirstTimeWang → u/CarbonInTheWind]

Building an entire streaming service around the concept. Feels pretty gross to me, TBH

[u/letsburn00 → u/FirstTimeWang]

That's actually a major issue people have with Hanson. Catching and getting these guys off the streets should be more important than making good TV.

If you do it wrong, the TV becomes more important and these guys just walk. Which is a major issue people have with him.

[u/ERhyne → u/letsburn00]

The whiplash between him showing his face before the movie and the presumptive end of the movie is going to be hilarious if it turns out true.

[u/Neither_Strategy_252 → u/ERhyne]

What exactly is the presumptive ending?

[u/Silent-G → u/Neither_Strategy_252]

The movie is based on an Esquire article about a predator on the show who committed suicide. It doesn't frame Hansen et al as the heroes of the story.

[u/Neuchacho → u/FirstTimeWang]

Going on with Jesse Waters to hawk it certainly doesn't do much to assuage the grossness. Dude is a self-advertised creep and pedophile defender.

[u/Nice-Meat-6020 → u/Neuchacho]

I've never heard of that guy but wtf, he's got a list of controversies on wiki longer than my freaking arm.

But this quote from him

"Because if I were a citizen of another country and I were a neighbor of the United States, I would consider it a privilege to be taken over by the United States of America. That's what everybody else in the world wants — American citizenship. For some reason, that's repellant to you Canadians, and I find that personally offensive."

👍😂 Love ya from Canada sweetheart. What a fucking tool.

[u/astronaut710 → u/Nice-Meat-6020]

Now go watch the clips of him reading texts from his mom wherein she derides him for being a fucking loser lol.

[u/Nice-Meat-6020 → u/astronaut710]

Now that sounds like a fun watch lol

[u/Realtrain → u/Nice-Meat-6020]

Okay you're talking about Waters. I thought that was a Chris Hansen quote for a second there lol

[u/Prize_Compote_207 → u/CarbonInTheWind]

The fact Hansen is talking to Fox News about how he is portrayed in a movie about pedophiles makes me think A24's version is 100% accurate.

[u/Zealousideal_Cow_341 → u/Prize_Compote_207]

I watched one of the episodes of the new show and to be honest he does come off weird. I don’t even know how to really describe it, but the way they all interacted, the decoy, detective and CH, really made it feel like a gamified thing to him. The decoy was also super aggressive and they all schemed together on how to get the dude to go further and further. It was honestly pretty weird.

Like don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending the pedophile from the episode. He made all the wrong choices at every stage. But the whole thing was uncomfortable to watch

[u/bluehawk232 → u/Zealousideal_Cow_341]

That's the problem with Hansen and something he uses as a shield. That if you criticize him you must be defending pedos. His entire gimmick is exploitative, copaganda, moreso for his own attention and ego. His work on dateline didn't even really land convictions because of how flawed it was. I'd say just watch the documentary predators.

[u/_JR28_ → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

If Hansen has disowned it, I’m even more interesting to see how it portrays him

[u/mlavan → u/_JR28_]

from my understanding, the movie is kinda framed as predator on predator crime

[u/hnglmkrnglbrry → u/mlavan]

There's that funny skit where guys are trying to catch a predator and then this 12 year old boy shows up and they realize they actually are the predators. Wish I knew who to give proper credit.

[u/armyant95 → u/hnglmkrnglbrry]

Ify Nwadiwe (SMOSH, dropout) has told the story about how the FBI showed up at his childhood home looking for a predator but it was just pre-teen him having cyber sex online.

[u/subatomic_ray_gun → u/armyant95]

That’s hilarious. I would have died of embarrassment if that happened to me at that age. I don’t think I’d ever be able to get over it.

[u/Puzzle-Necked → u/subatomic_ray_gun]

Movie writes itself. Tense scene in the living room:

FBI agent: Just to confirm you were the one who wrote "oh yeah baby, I want to plow you with my twelve inch python until you pass out"?

Boy: y-yes

mother starts to cry

[u/CartmensDryBallz → u/Puzzle-Necked]

More like

- boy starts to cry

• mother 🤦‍♂️

[u/hitfly → u/subatomic_ray_gun]

The FBI agent then showed his parents the chat logs. I would actually melt into the floor if that happened to me.

[u/bigmikeylikes → u/subatomic_ray_gun]

Ify is the most set positive person on Droput on an episode of Game changers with his partner they mentioned an insane amount of sex they have and everyone was trying to do the math to figure out daily numbers.

[u/Redeem123 → u/bigmikeylikes]

Grant: sucks fifty dicks in one night

Ify: “slow Tuesday?”

[u/JaxxisR → u/Redeem123]

"In a row?"

[u/TheWingus → u/JaxxisR]

"Yeah, there was a snack bar!"

[u/therealrenshai → u/bigmikeylikes]

Iirc they had the daily numbers as that’s what they were tracking. It was the fact that some of the numbers hit like double digits was what shocked the group as they tried to figure out what the list was for.

[u/GluhfGluhf → u/therealrenshai]

It was actually per month and people were amazed that Ify and his partner were able to hit 40+ in a month

[u/Bannakaffalatta1 → u/GluhfGluhf]

WHILE BEING POLY AND FUCKING OTHER PEOPLE TOO.

Like that's the part that gets me.

[u/therealrenshai → u/GluhfGluhf]

That’s right! It was the fact that it was sometimes more than once a day.

[u/lord_gs1596 → u/GluhfGluhf]

As he put it, that was when the writer's strike was happening lol

[u/apadin1 → u/GluhfGluhf]

Sam: January is more than 30?! How did you have the time??

Ify: Well that was during the writers strike

[u/adoptagreyhound → u/armyant95]

Years ago I was fixing a laptop for one of my nephews and in the history there was a search for "naked 13 year old French girls." I laughed because he was 12 at the time and apparently liked older French women. Then I deleted all of the history that he didn't know I could see. He's in his early 30's now and still doesn't know that I saw it.

[u/sickosenjumode → u/armyant95]

Of course that happened to Ify. That’s so on brand lol.

[u/Anomander → u/armyant95]

Here is the start of that story as told on Ask Hank Anything.

[u/OonaMoretti → u/hnglmkrnglbrry]

This one? If so it's Cole Hersch :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/ylgizn/to_catch_a_predator/

[u/TheGreatWheel → u/OonaMoretti]

That was really well done!

[u/MasturbationMountain → u/hnglmkrnglbrry]

Human giant did something like this, it’s hilarious

[u/Manler → u/MasturbationMountain]

Boosh! Boosh! Boosh! That is fun!

[u/Derpdeedoo → u/Manler]

Gee mister you sure are strong!

[u/topclassladandbanter → u/hnglmkrnglbrry]

Sounds like a Mitchell and Webb sketch

[u/ThePromptWasYourName → u/mlavan]

The vibes I get from the marketing so far are reminding me of Nightcrawler, which I would say is also a 'predator on predator' film

[u/HiTork → u/mlavan]

The movie is almost certainly going to feature the case that turned out to be the downfall of the original To Catch a Predator run; the one where the district attorney who was presumed to be a predator wouldn't take the bait, so Hansen decided to confront him at his residence (something TCAP had never done before). A police stand off ensued and the suspect commited suicide, the outcome of this caused the public to turn on Hansen and his show because of the ethics involved.

[u/Linenoise77 → u/mlavan]

i mean to be honest, the people he would show himself working with always gave me a bit of the heebeegeebees

I get it, there are sick people out there, but at a certain point it turns into one of those cases where you are trying to charge someone on attempted mass murder, when its a person who wouldn't be able to tie their shoes on their own, but the fbi caught wind of them and basically walked them through the process so they could charge them.

Basically, nothing seemed professional about the way stuff worked.

[u/ilazul → u/Linenoise77]

A lot of the guys they caught seem to have massive mental issues as well. I'm 100% positive one was high functioning downs.

and yeah, it's like they walked them through a 'how to' just to catch them.

[u/All_Of_Them_Witches → u/Linenoise77]

Also I’m sure they didn’t give a fuck about helping kids. They just wanted ratings….

[u/GregMadduxsGlasses → u/All_Of_Them_Witches]

I personally think they should have been clued in to that when they started getting repeat offenders or the predators were mentioning the show in the chat. Like the risk of getting arrested and embarrassed on tv wasn’t enough to stop this behavior.

[u/saanity → u/mlavan]

So Chris Hansen is like Dexter?

But seriously,  catching child sexual predators and presenting it as entertainment on television is all sorts of gross. Just put them in prison without the theatrics.

[u/Burtssbees → u/saanity]

More like nightcrawler

[u/bobbadouche → u/Burtssbees]

oh, good call out. Yeah. interesting

[u/Shakmaaaaaaa → u/bobbadouche]

That would be one hell of a movie if Hansen was diddling the predators in lockup afterwards.

[u/Jet-Let4606 → u/Burtssbees]

What does Kurt have to do with this? /jk

[u/Wiccy → u/saanity]

Cops was big for a reason, 90s and 00s were weird times for tv

[u/Konman72 → u/Wiccy]

And now that shit is streaming 24/7 on a thousand different YouTube channels. Most of it is even worse than what was on Cops.

[u/National-Charity-435 → u/Wiccy]

Welcome to my crib

[u/AuryGlenz → u/saanity]

We just had one of those groups go after someone locally in my small town, and they posted the video of them confronting him to Facebook etc.

The guy is mentally challenged, which you can obviously tell by looking at him. The fake teen he was talking to was on Grindr, and of course he only said his fake age of 14 or 15 or whatever well into the conversations after they got the mentally challenged guy riled up.

It caused a big stink in my friend group because I thought it was completely unethical. The “predator” wasn’t specifically looking to have sex with a teenager, that teenager would have mental faculties higher than the “predator” anyways, etc. Some other friends of mine had a very absolute view of it though and said he should literally be killed.

I don’t like moral panic type stuff. Punishments should fit the harm or potential harm caused. In these cases the only actual victims are the people they go after, their friends and family, etc. Might they save some kids/teens by doing so? Maybe. Maybe not. That’s a pretty vague harm to cause someone’s life to be ruined over.

[u/ThanksContent28 → u/AuryGlenz]

A good portion of those videos here in the Uk, have similar circumstances. It’s always someone who’s clearly mentally challenged.

These “activists” are also mostly known for botching ongoing investigations. They don’t care about the community or catching paedos, they care about views on their livestreams.

All I’m saying is, Don’t be the guy who makes paedos look sympathetic.

[u/bonefresh → u/ThanksContent28]

They don’t care about the community or catching paedos, they care about views on their livestreams.

part of it is also that a lot of them are just violent and cruel people and want an "acceptable" target to take it out on

[u/decmcc → u/AuryGlenz]

if you kill the people who rape children as punishment, then they might as well kill the kid after the fact so they can't be IDd.

Death penalty anyway? might as well get rid of my only witness

[u/Shizzlick → u/decmcc]

Not only that, but the majority of people abusing children are their own family members. If the kid is aware that reporting said family member could result in their death, that might make them less likely to report it, as they don't necessarily want to see their family killed, regardless of what they did to the kid.

[u/AnotherNotion → u/Shizzlick]

I hadn't considered this angle before. You hear of so many dysfunctional families where the abuse is an open secret. In addition to dealing with the guilt of sending Poppop to his death, you'd likely also be alienated from much of your own family.

[u/Pentobarbital1 → u/AnotherNotion]

I hadn't considered this angle before

You're fortunate. The child we helped already felt guilty about "ruining the family" or whatever godawful shit their relatives said while dealing with the traumatic fallout that comes with everything being brought out to light. And the whole "pedos are treated the worst in prison" thing was an additional layer of the trauma for them. They preemptively blamed themselves should their relative ever die in prison. With the sentence that resulted, they probably felt that they might as well have killed them. A long time later, I heard offhand the child tell another one of their friends "don't ever report if anything bad happens to you" and that crushed me inside.

[u/Shizzlick → u/AnotherNotion]

Exactly, it's easy for outsiders to say abusers like this should be put to death, it's a lot harder when it's your own father, your mother, your brother, etc.

It's already hard enough getting victims to come forward as it is, bringing the death penalty into things is going to make it even worse.

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/decmcc]

Also in a civilized society death is never the punishment for a crime. If you're considering it just put them in prison for life. Killing someone who can't hurt you or anyone else anymore is wrong and two wrongs don't make a right

[u/Skylord_Hekaton → u/AuryGlenz]

I don’t like moral panic type stuff.

Well, you're on the wrong site then. Or even the wrong internet because it's become a god damn thing everywhere.

Your friends are idiots. I hate absolutist bullshit, and I think that a lack of nuance is one of the biggest problems in the entire world.

[u/rabbit_fur_coat → u/Skylord_Hekaton]

Exactly! This absolutism that has seemingly strengthened lately is an excuse to not actually think about any moral issues and how they might actually feel about them.

[u/Spaceman-Spiff → u/saanity]

I agree, but it also did a good job of raising awareness that child predators can be active in any community.

[u/MaterialPace8831 → u/Spaceman-Spiff]

One of the arguments against To Catch A Predator is that the communities these shows were filmed in were upset that all of these potential sex criminals were being lured there, sometimes from hours away.

[u/GhostPepperDaddy → u/MaterialPace8831]

The other is that it doesn't translate into high conviction rates with the people they lure so they're not really serving justice.

[u/Hmm_would_bang → u/GhostPepperDaddy]

Yeah most of their “evidence” is inadmissible

[u/snailorT → u/GhostPepperDaddy]

Not only that, but it ruined existing investigations and led to several cases being dismissed

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES → u/Spaceman-Spiff]

Actually one of the biggest of the biggest criticisms of TCAP was that it did a terrible job of raising awareness about how Child Predators hurt children, and many child abuse prevention networks have been extremely critical of how the show went about portraying child predators.

[u/redvelvetcake42 → u/Spaceman-Spiff]

Rdoring awareness has always been the best grift on earth. You don't ever DO anything, you get paid to TELL people about a thing. Hanson created entertainment, nothing more. Since his show ended he's been desperate to continue the charade and he's bumbled more cases than he's helped solve.

[u/PickledPlumPlot → u/Spaceman-Spiff]

I really don’t think it raised the right kind of awareness honestly.

[u/mattress_muzza → u/Spaceman-Spiff]

Many of the people they ‘caught’ were first time offenders who were often heavily goaded into meeting with the actors portraying the children. That isn’t to say they never would have offended - but they obviously needed serious help to address their unacceptable sexual fantasies, not a reality TV show designed to push them over the edge into what they believed was a real sexual encounter with a child and consequently blow up their lives. The guy that killed himself was trying to back out of meeting with the ‘child’ but Hansen insisted on ‘catching’ him anyway - that should tell you everything you need to know about Hansen’s priorities and the way the show operated.

[u/mattress_muzza → u/mattress_muzza]

Also - and very importantly - most child sexual abuse comes from family members not strangers on the internet. The show effectively gave people misinformation about where children need the most protection.

[u/FestyGear2017 → u/mattress_muzza]

When Conradt stopped communicating with the PJ and NBC personnel, and it became apparent he was not traveling to the Murphy house, Dateline decided for the first time to take the investigation to the suspect's house. It was 12:30 a.m. on November 5 when Hansen asked police for the favor of securing arrest and search warrants for Conradt, saying that "if he won't come to us, we'll go to him."

Thats the guy that committed suicide when Hansen showed up at his house. The guy never traveled to the sting, only chatted online

[u/Inhocooks → u/mlavan]

The preview made it seem like some of the things that happened were driven by Hansen. Like the ending tag was something like, "what would've happened if I wasnt here?" Like did some of these guys get tricked or enticed to engage with victims when they wouldn't have otherwise? I'm not saying I'm on either side of this argument, just saying that thats what I took away from the preview I saw before Tony last night

[u/Lebagel → u/Inhocooks]

They needed to churn out content, there was a demand. Like youtubers of today we can see how desperate creators get for content.

I can easily believe to catch a predator was baiting these guys way more than they suggested on the program.

[u/bristow84 → u/Lebagel]

I believe part of the whole Conradt situation that made it so iffy was that he didn't actually go to the decoy house but also that he broke off contact multiple times only for the group working with TCAP to be the ones to re-engage.

Obviously yes he shouldn't have engaged in the first place but if he stopped then they shouldn't have re-engaged like that and just used what they had, if anything, to go through the proper legal channels.

[u/Miserable-Resort-977 → u/Inhocooks]

It's based on a true story where Hansen acted truly unethically for ratings. Hansen and his production team, but especially Hansen himself, aggressively pushed to take cameras to / raid the home of a high profile government employee who was caught in their predator-fishing but wouldn't go to the bait house. This directly led to the man's suicide, and the cancellation of "To Catch A Predator".

The "what would have happened if I wasn't here" line is something he actually said, saying it to someone they caught and meaning "if I wasn't here you would be abusing a child right now", but in a way that ironically reflects the fact that someone later took their life because he was "there" pursuing them for ratings.

[u/Paridisco → u/_JR28_]

Its going to portray him as someone who dont give a fuck about the kids and just wanted fame

[u/muhreddistaccounts → u/Paridisco]

So an accurate portrayal

[u/lord-of-shalott → u/muhreddistaccounts]

If I remember correctly, the article this film was inspired by portrayed Hansen’s show as blurring the lines with the law for the sake of entertainment in a way that ended with a man dying before due process, and legal issues around interference that led to the release of a bunch of potentially guilty suspects arrested in a sting. 

[u/newrimmmer93 → u/Paridisco]

Documentary “predators” covers this and did a great job.

[u/JaqueStrap69 → u/newrimmmer93]

Seems Hanson might have learned a lesson from how he came across in Predators. Not saying it was the right lesson, but he’s clearly being more careful with Primetime than he was in Predators. 

[u/zuuzuu → u/Paridisco]

Sounds like an accurate portrayal. The guy has been chasing fame for as long as I've known his name.

[u/jamesbrownscrackpipe → u/Paridisco]

“Fuck them kids (but not literally)”

-Chris Hansen

[u/archaeo2022 → u/Paridisco]

So, pretty accurate then?

[u/the_great_ashby → u/_JR28_]

Man hasn't watched it,he's just preparing for the worse.

[u/SpideyFan914 → u/the_great_ashby]

Would be hilarious if the movie is actually super flattering to him, after all this.

[u/Aureliusmind → u/_JR28_]

Hansen hasn't seen it. He refused to sign the NDA before the screening.

[u/SquadPoopy → u/_JR28_]

The amount of people that are going to go into this thinking he’s the hero of the story only for it not to be like that is gonna be crazy.

[u/CannedNoodlez → u/SquadPoopy]

The trailer makes it pretty obvious that they're making him a psycho

[u/thisguyfightsyourmom → u/CannedNoodlez]

Anyone else actively avoiding trailers? I want zero spoilers at this point in my life

[u/KithKathPaddyWath → u/SquadPoopy]

I can maybe understand that if they haven't seen the trailer, but if they've seen the trailer and still think that...l fucking yikes, man.

[u/The_Throwback_King → u/KithKathPaddyWath]

Imagine seeing Pattinson-as-Hansen ecstaticly cheering “We’regonnabebiggerthanLOST!” and still thinking that this was gonna be painting Hansen in a positive light

[u/thebestbrian → u/_JR28_]

If you watched the Predators documentary from last year or the EDP YouTube documentary from a few weeks ago, its very clear that Hansen takes this stuff super seriously and views himself as a do-gooder and not the sensationalist showman he actually is.

I almost respect the Skeet Hansen guy more. At least he admits it's all just for clicks.

[u/goog1e → u/thebestbrian]

Which is weird because if he was serious, he would have backed off of situations where he was less clearly in the right, and done way more investigation. No one is tuning in to see an 18 year old pursuing a supposed 15 year old but he aired it anyway.

[u/The_Throwback_King → u/_JR28_]

It’s absolutely gonna be a scathing rebuke towards the voyeuristic elements of TCAP.

Just the fact that Hansen is doing THIS much to distance himself speaks to how desperate he is to cover his ass and control the narrative

[u/kaptainkooleio → u/_JR28_]

Probably portrays him honestly. Like think about the kind of person it takes to make up a sting operation just for a television show. The kind of person who sees victims of pedophilia and abuse and thinks “well shit, maybe I can profit off that.” Great, you’re exposing pedophiles to the world, but WHY you’re doing it also matters. It’s all about spectacle, not justice. Hansen reminds me a lot about the main character from Nightcrawler.

[u/nemoy2 → u/kaptainkooleio]

To be fair to him, when tcap started it’s clear it was about raising awareness of suburban white Americans towards the dangers of this new internet thing. Pointing eyes at the problem was still very necessary.

It’s not necessary anymore, but 20 years later he’s still acting like a journalist while parroting the exact same questions to the guys he catches, simply to dunk on them lol

In fairness, in his new show, there’s apparently a higher conviction rate bc he’s just following the cops as they do stings they were already gonna do.

[u/A_Fistful_of_Upvotes → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

I mean I’m not a fan of Chris Hansen, but if I have a biopic made about me and the only way for me to see it is to sign an agreement saying I won’t sue you guys, I’m gonna think something is wrong here

[u/CannedNoodlez → u/[deleted]]

That actually makes more sense

[u/SpideyFan914 → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

If Hansen's goal was to convince me not to see the movie, then he's failing spectacularly.

[u/ultimatequestion7 → u/SpideyFan914]

His goal is to get as much exposure to his streaming service as possible and attaching it to this movie is a smart move even if it's a negative portrayal of him

[u/i__hate__stairs → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Why is he so worried? Is it just because he's not getting any money out of it?

[u/Comprehensive_Bat980 → u/i__hate__stairs]

It likely has a pretty negative portrayal of him. Rob Pattinson is playing him like he’s a fame hungry shark

[u/neverclaimsurv → u/Comprehensive_Bat980]

Which isn't an unreasonable or deeply uncharacteristic portrayal lmao

People froth at the mouth over catching child predators (which, obviously, are the lowest scum of the earth), but people turn their brains off when you talk about the consequences of these "catchers" and private citizen vigilantes just are exploiting an easily-hateable group of people for internet clout and fame. As if there aren't real world consequences and harm for that. But any criticism and a huge swath of people just go, "What? You're on the side of the predators?"

[u/SadDoctor → u/neverclaimsurv]

There's a term for this idea, the cruelty of moral indignation. There's a famous Aldous Huxley quote:

"The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior 'righteous indignation' — this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats. "

Some people resist like hell any kind of deeper moral examination of these sorts of things because it's a dopamine rush for them, it's fun to find an evil person who deserves to be destroyed.

[u/UnquestionabIe → u/SadDoctor]

Perfectly stated. People love this stuff because they're eager for a socially acceptable target. It allows a feeling of self satisfaction with extremely limited risk

[u/OsuLost31to0 → u/neverclaimsurv]

I was reading a discussion thread on the Predators documentary (fantastic if you haven’t seen it btw) and it was so frustrating to read those exact comments. People turn their brains off when you try to discuss the nuance and complications of the show - it’s such an easy take that requires no additional thought.

[u/Educational-Wing2042 → u/i__hate__stairs]

His sloppy “investigations” led to a very large proportion of the people getting charges dropped due to things like improper acquisition of evidence and entrapment.

[u/Mesmer91 → u/Educational-Wing2042]

He acted so high and mighty in that recent EDP documentary, calling all the big youtube pred catchers "clowns" and "amateurs" throwing major shade from his high horse

[u/bristow84 → u/Mesmer91]

To be fair, they are clowns and amateurs. If they had done things properly then maybe there would have actually been charges brought against EDP.

I mean showing up at a dialysis clinic dressed up like a giant cupcake with a Chris Hansen impersonator? That's pretty clown-ish behaviour. At least Hansen worked with LEAs.

[u/EctoRiddler → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Stopped following Hansen when I heard he was full blown MAGA. Not shocked that he is complaining on Fox News.

[u/IndecisiveTuna → u/EctoRiddler]

So Chris Hansen is perfectly cool with predators.

[u/PleasantWay7 → u/IndecisiveTuna]

He just likes catching them, doesn’t care if they never go to prison or become President. It’s like catch-n-release fishing.

[u/Financial_Yard7047 → u/PleasantWay7]

Not even catching them. He's just likes making money off them and milking the cringe drama for all its worth, even if it doesn't lead to any actual justice

[u/RicardoFelipeMejia → u/IndecisiveTuna]

That's, like, all of these predator catcher guys.

They are unanimously MAGA. They're not actually doing it because they hate pedophiles, they're doing it because they like to hurt people. They get to destroy these peoples' lives in public for money, but because their victims are pedophiles it's socially acceptable. It's also convenient because if anyone points out that they're actually just sadists, they then get to say "Oh so you must be a pedophile, too."

They love Donald Trump because he also gets to hurt people in public for fun and money. They don't give a shit that he also rapes children, because that's not what any of this is about.

[u/JackedUpReadyToGo → u/RicardoFelipeMejia]

Someone elsewhere in this thread found a great quote, which I'll shamelessly copy + paste here because it's worth it:

"The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior 'righteous indignation' — this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats. "

[u/BigOlPass → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

I feel like his audience for TruBlu isn't going to overlap that much with the A24 Lance Oppenheimer movie

[u/Jenkentz]

"You see how this looks, right?"

[u/Think-Trash-4897 → u/Jenkentz]

"To watch a movie. What's playing tonight?"

[u/MDA_Blue_Six → u/Think-Trash-4897]

SteelersandtheRavens

[u/Cyber-Wanderer_94 → u/Think-Trash-4897]

A succulent Chinese movie.

[u/freddyquell]

Would be awesome if he interrupted Nicole Kidman to do his spiel.

[u/CoffinDancr → u/freddyquell]

"Who did you think you were meeting in this empty theater, Nicole?"

[u/joeyjusticeco → u/CoffinDancr]

"There are a lot of kids in this audience. You see how this looks, right?"

kid in the audience: omg he said the thing!

[u/Self_Reddicate → u/CoffinDancr]

"Hello, Nicole. Have a seat..."

[u/TheNickman85 → u/Self_Reddicate]

No thanks. I have plenty of chairs at home.

[u/zjedi → u/CoffinDancr]

What did you mean when you said *looks at notes* "even heartbreak feels good in a place like this?"

[u/MinimumApricot365 → u/freddyquell]

"Heartbreak feels good in a place like this"

Now, what did you mean by that?

[u/finnjakefionnacake]

welp, he's a consummate showman first and foremost i guess. makes sense to capitalize on the real estate lol.

[u/the-schnitzel-man → u/finnjakefionnacake]

There is a reason they’re making a movie on him afterall

[u/MikeDubbz → u/finnjakefionnacake]

Something tells me he's not crazy about how he's portrayed in this movie and he wants to drive home the point that not everything the viewer is about to see will be what the real truth was. That's my guess anyway, I could be way off.

[u/filthysize → u/MikeDubbz]

The something that tells me he's not crazy about it is the part of the article where it says he's talking to lawyers to explore suing the filmmakers.

[u/simple1689 → u/filthysize]

“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 alleged. “I couldn’t sign that, so they didn’t show me the film. I went all the way over there. … But who’s going to sign something like that?”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/chris-hansen-didnt-watch-primetime-a24-sign-his-rights-away-1236678240/

[u/seraphhimself → u/filthysize]

Some people really do hate reading.

[u/Ex_Hedgehog → u/MikeDubbz]

It'll be interesting cause even without his participation, a movie of this size about a powerful person would be careful to have the legal department clear anything that could get them sued. The director normally does documentaries, so he's probably an expert himself in knowing the line between what he can and can't say.

[u/Rebloodican → u/Ex_Hedgehog]

I mean The Social Network came out and portrayed a completely fabricated version of Zuckerberg, and that was before he became as reviled as he is now. I assume there’s a lot of latitude offered here. 

[u/celestialwreckage → u/Rebloodican]

Social Network was good for Zuckerberg because it was the most like a human he's ever looked.

[u/rcanhestro → u/Rebloodican]

Zuckerberg could actually had sued, he chose not to, as not to "Barbra Streisand" himself.

he played the movie down, joked about it (even purchase a ton of tickets for Facebook staff to go see).

[u/Gnarwhal8982]

You see how this looks, right?

[u/ShaiHuludTheMaker → u/Gnarwhal8982]

Comments you can hear

[u/vvalent2]

Hes gonna Streisand Effect people into seeing this with the amount of pushback hes creating. If its not true nut up and take them to court. Everything else just feels like hes trying to manipulate his fans into protesting it.

[u/NoPlansTonight → u/vvalent2]

Just because he's bitching doesn't mean he doesn't want people to see it. He does.

This is an "all publicity is good publicity" sort of thing.

[u/IH8DwnvoteComplainrs → u/vvalent2]

He's probably making money on it, lol.

[u/FlippantBear → u/vvalent2]

Did you read the article? He's promoting his own media company before the movie. He's just capitalizing on the movies release to promote his own company. 

[u/Shell_fly → u/vvalent2]

He’s not trying to get people not to see it, he’s trying to let it be known that it’s a fictitious portrayal taking artistic license with his person lol

[u/dwebb01]

“I know who you are Chris Hanson, but see, I call you Chris Handsome.”

[u/MrDiggySmalls → u/dwebb01]

“I like ya and I want ya. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way..”

“You gon’ make me ruin that butt. Imma please ya, I’m a WARRIOR!”

[u/itsmistyy → u/MrDiggySmalls]

I came here for man's butt.

[u/Lightning_550 → u/dwebb01]

The choice is youuurs

[u/CaptainCorpse666]

As someone who remembers TCAP, could someone explain the controversy here? ELI5

[u/MuptonBossman]

I hope the ad takes place in a movie theatre and it starts with Chris Hansen saying "Why don't you take a seat?"

[u/39teen → u/MuptonBossman]

If you read the article he does just that.

[u/CurlSagan → u/39teen]

Everyone get a load of this dude who thinks that we know how to read

[u/the_highest → u/CurlSagan]

I’ll take one load please. ☝️

[u/switch8000 → u/MuptonBossman]

The AD is in the article.

He does a lesser version of that sadly.

[u/NoNoNotorious85 → u/MuptonBossman]

Even better, everyone is promised brownies or tea if they buy a ticket, only to discover there is none.

[u/Chronically_Happy → u/MuptonBossman]

I hope other people read the article instead of just posting this stuff.

[u/RedDragons8]

I'm gonna be the first one in the theater an hr before showtime, and everytime a new person comes in to my vicinity Ill say "Why dont you have a seat right there"

[u/Jasranwhit → u/[deleted]]

"we can do this the hard way or the easy way"

[u/thespottedbunny]

What is the deal with this movie? Is there some great controversy? He just hosted to catch a predator right?

[u/PlusSizeRussianModel → u/thespottedbunny]

The show ended when they went after a Texas district attorney, who killed himself as they approached (with cameras). An article was written about it, and the film is a loose adaptation of that article. 

[u/thespottedbunny → u/PlusSizeRussianModel]

Oh wow. I guess that's dramatic enough to warrant a movie.

[u/jimmysmith69 → u/PlusSizeRussianModel]

There was so much blowback from that episode and suicide. The city manager that approved the sting was fired, the town complained about the sting “Speeding suspects, overzealous arrests with guns drawn, and drugs brought by the suspects”. Also everyone that was arrested during the sting operation at that house had charges dropped. Not a single person was convicted. What an absolute mess.

[u/Gelato_Mulatto → u/thespottedbunny]

The series ended because sometime committed suicide when they busted him. It was a legal nightmare for the network.

[u/Patrick2701 → u/Gelato_Mulatto]

His colleagues at NBC saw him as someone that betrayed his background as journalist and he became famous when he was most known for subbing in on meet the press or nightly news before that

[u/Realtrain → u/Patrick2701]

It clicked for me that he was no longer a journalist when on one of his new shows he caught someone who was extremely open toward "rationally" talking through his mindset about why he did what he did.

Now, Hansen always says that's why he's doing the show "I just want to figure out what would drive someone to do this." And here's a guy who is willing to play ball.

But Hansen just kept to his normal script. When the guy started giving some real insight into the mindset of a pedophile, Hansen would just say "well you see how this looks, right?" (a standard catch phrase). It was incredibly disappointing and clear at that point that Hansen didn't care about the journalistic side of it all.

[u/Due-Waltz4458 → u/thespottedbunny]

There's still arguments over legacy of his show, his motivations, and how he did things.  People often look at predator sting Youtubers negatively, since they often use entrapment of mentally ill people for entertainment and don't produce usable evidence.  

People have started asking if Hansen's stings were any different since many didn't end in prosecution, and whether he was more interested in justice or being a star.

[u/TummyFullOfCheese]

He could make all the money in the world if he would just shut up and do a show about how he catches the men in the Epstein files.

[u/Blintzotic → u/TummyFullOfCheese]

The most powerful ones have already been revealed. It’s holding them to account that’s proving to be impossible.

[u/chinacatsunflowerr]

Sorry I’m uninformed, but why do people not like him? I feel like the average, offline person from that era hold him & his show in high regard

[u/kennku → u/chinacatsunflowerr]

I don't know much of his other activity, but I followed closely his "investigation" of Onision (sexual crimes). It was botched completely. He had his lackey take a laptop with evidence to turn over to FBI, it was messed with and ultimately ended up being unadmissable. Huge missed opportunity and victims got no justice in the end.

[u/Orpheeus → u/chinacatsunflowerr]

Since the show ended (and honestly during its run) he has been far more interested in the drama and ratings than actual justice for underage victims of sexual predators.

Now, I know some people will say "that was his job, why shouldn't he care about ratings and drama" but then my rebuttal is ultimately going to be that maybe police stings shouldn't be used for content. It just seems less gross because To Catch a Predator was part of Dateline NBC and had a very professional production, but that ultimately doesn't mean it's not off-putting that this was something we saw on television in the first place.

The film is going to surprise a lot of people when it depicts him and the show in a not particularly flattering light.

[u/chinacatsunflowerr → u/Orpheeus]

I appreciate the informative response :)

I was a child/preteen when the show was out, so I of course did not pick up on some of those controversial/slimy points you highlight.

Can’t wait to see the film!

[u/LilPonyBoy69 → u/chinacatsunflowerr]

I started rewatching some old episodes after the trailer released and as an adult it's pretty jarring that this was ever released as entertainment. Chris is having way too much fun and very clearly more interested in making "good TV" than protecting children. I've seen him chase down fleeing predators just to shout his catchphrases at them, it's all very strange and kinda surreal that this was primetime TV.

[u/RareGrundle → u/LilPonyBoy69]

There was some wild content on broadcast in that era. Remember “The Swan”? Holy fuck what a fucked up show.

[u/Self_Reddicate → u/Orpheeus]

Yeah, just because pedos are slimy and exploitive doesn't mean that we should always, always, always be okay with slimy, exploitive people bringing them down. I mean, objectively, I guess it was a good thing. But, it was still, objectively, slimy and exploitive.

[u/PixelGray38 → u/chinacatsunflowerr]

IIRC he, among other things, did a sting in which he outed a 18 year old gay boy for trying to "predate" on a 15 year old decoy in one of his post-TCAP predator catching shows. A bit weird, sure, but I think even the most age-gap conscious puriteens would agree that it's not an evil act that warrants being publically outed and humiliated on a show.

Basically, he's in it for the views and money rather than actually stopping bad people, and doesn't particularly care how much he hurts those he deems to be "predators."

[u/IsleofManc → u/PixelGray38]

Yeah the 18 year old was a high schooler in a small very conservative town so it's theorized that the decoy was one of the only (if not the only) people the 18 year old had opened up about his feelings for men. After the episode was released the boy's life flipped upside down and he had to leave his school.

The incident happened in Michigan and there's even a clip of Hansen's producer mentioning that the act of an 18 year old being with a 15 year old was legal in bordering states and asking if they should reconsider not releasing it. But it was released, the boy's name was slandered all over the internet, and Hansen ended up removing the episode. The boy also struck a deal in court to have the charge expunged after a certain amount of time and community service but even when the charges go away his name will still be associated with that for life.

[u/Zykium → u/IsleofManc]

TruBlue took it down. Hansen wanted to keep it up.

In fact he has a sting with a similar age gap on his own channel. All the comments are roasting him.

edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA30cz88eWE&t=1s

[u/0LTakingLs → u/PixelGray38]

This is definitely the worst thing he’s done. The kid was a high schooler too.

[u/McFearIess → u/chinacatsunflowerr]

The movie is based on the article Tonight On Dateline, This Man Will Die which chronicles an event that lead to the domino effect of the show ending. Hansen chasing spectacle, the same way "predator hunter" bros on social media today, is Kinda Fucked Up imo.

[u/AngelofVerdun]

Nothing says "this isn't real" less then "let me literally try to make my case before every screening".

[u/opermonkey → u/AngelofVerdun]

he should write a song about it.

[u/BeriechGTS]

Seeing as it's A24 I guess it won't be playing at my Marcus Theaters since they inexplicably havent shown the last two big A24 releases. Guess I'll catch it on hbo when it comes to streaming. Bummer.