Chris Hansen said he didn’t watch an early screening of Robert Pattinson‘s Primetime because he claimed that “A24 wanted me to sign away my rights.”
During an interview on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime Thursday evening, the former To Catch a Predator host said he went to the indie production studio and distributor’s office earlier in the day for a private screening of the film, but ended up leaving without seeing it.
“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?”
He added that it was a “very restrictive agreement” and that he “had never seen anything quite like it.”
The Hollywood Reporter learned that Hansen was asked to sign a standard NDA a week in advance that all preview audiences must sign in order to watch an unreleased A24 film. It’s mostly to prevent spoilers and protect the studio’s IP.
Hansen noted to Jesse Watters that his “lawyers had already seen” the NDA before he arrived at A24’s offices.
When asked by the host what A24 might be worried about, the veteran journalist replied, “I don’t know! I haven’t seen the film. If you look at the trailer, obviously it’s a very dramatized version. They had told me that it’s fictionalized in many aspects. I know other people have seen it who didn’t sign an NDA, and yet they wanted me to sign it.”
Primetime, which stars Pattinson as the Dateline NBC correspondent, chronicles the intense production, ethical dilemmas and media sensationalism behind To Catch a Predator, which ran from 2004 to 2007.
During an interview with podcaster Annie Elise last week, Hansen questioned “Hollywood’s motive” behind the movie directed by Lance Oppenheim, but refused to judge the film until he’s seen it.
“A couple months ago, they came and said, ‘Hey look, we’re doing this, we’d like you to have some sort of consideration in terms of helping us with this,’” he said. However, Hansen noted that the film was already made before “they” reached out to him.
“As a reporter, it’s sort of silly for me to talk about something that I haven’t seen yet,” he added. “My suspicion is that they used my name because it helps in a commercial enterprise.”
Primetime, also starring Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher and Bokeem Woodbine, hits theaters on Sept. 25.
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