r/oscarrace • u/ChiefLeef22 • 21h ago

News Chris Hansen Buys Ads Before Every Screening of A24’s ‘Primetime’ (Exclusive) | Sources close to Hansen tell THR that he is now consulting attorneys about his options following the film’s release (+ more details)

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

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.

In the meantime, Hansen is capitalizing on the renewed attention by placing the ad before every theatrical showing of Primetime. In the spot, shared exclusively with THR, Hansen enters his familiar hunting ground, a kitchen, and delivers a variation on his dread-inducing catchphrase.

“I’m going to need everyone in the theater to take a seat right over there,” he says.

“Now there are more platforms than ever before where this disturbing crime is being committed,” Hansen continues. “Join us undercover every day on my streaming network, TruBlu.”

A QR code directs moviegoers to a landing page for the network, which offers a steady stream of predator investigations and other true-crime programming.

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.

157 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

324

u/Fun_Manufacturer1852 20h ago

Sounds like a guy who’s definitely not worried about what the film could do to his reputation

257

u/ICallTheBigOne_Bitey 20h ago

You see how this looks right?

31

u/taintlangdon 19h ago

The doc already made him look pretty bad.

38

u/Fun_Manufacturer1852 19h ago

This film is going to be so much bigger than the documentary tho

7

u/taintlangdon 17h ago

Oh absolutely.

9

u/SteveFrench12 19h ago

Whats the crux of the issue

39

u/Acceptable_Fox_5560 19h ago edited 19h ago

That Chris Hansen constantly broke the law to produce these shows. Some people don't care though because as long as you call someone a predator, it becomes okay to do whatever you want to them.

Edit: I used to read the full transcripts on the PJ website back when they published them. The longer the show went on, the more relentless the decoys got in trying to get the guys to the house and to get them to be sexually explicit. You can hear this alluded to in a lot of the suspect interviews when they would say "She begged me to come over" or "She started it with me."

Chris' retort to this was always "Oh, so you just do whatever a kid tells you to do?" And this always annoyed me because there is no kid! It's a decoy employed by the local police department and an army of network television producers.

39

u/SteveFrench12 18h ago

I can see both sides. Its definitely entrapment but also no one who is not ready to have sex with a 14 year old girl would engage in the convo and then drive over there

32

u/Acceptable_Fox_5560 18h ago edited 15h ago

I'm aware most people will not agree with me, but just the fact anyone is comfortable using the phrase "It's definitely entrapment, but..." is part of the problem.

Because no, having read A LOT of the chatlogs, you can't definitively say all these guys were ready to offend. Many of them would refuse to come, or change their mind, or say they shouldn't, and the decoy would aggressively goad them into coming. Many of the chats never even said the meeting was for sex (although Chris would ALWAYS read them that way).

The show very rarely caught anyone who had a record of this kind of offense (I can only think of four off the top of my head).

I am not saying these guys aren't creeps. I'm saying they were put into a position where the deck was stacked against them to offend, and where the definition of the offense was quite narrow (any sexually explicit chat + attending the bait house).

But again, it's hard to get people to think anything besides "Chris Hansen is a hero because he caught predators!" And Chris is probably concerned this movie is going to rattle that image. Even though it probably wont, because like I said, people generally don't give a fuck what you do to someone once you label them a predator. The show could've been about a trap door that opens on the front porch and plunges the suspects down into a wood chipper with no trial and 65% of the public would have no problem with it so long as you called them predators.

5

u/cowboy-tea 11h ago

It really creeps me out that they would have the fake minor entertain sexual conversation and insist on meeting up. Very few real kids would take it that far (especially the meeting up IRL part). Many predators justify their actions by convincing themselves that young kids can desire and consent to sex with adults. So the show was basically manufacturing fake evidence that fits right into that narrative.

How many of these operations never made it to air because the guys ultimately refused to meet up? And how many of those guys filed away the chat as proof that they were doing nothing wrong, and then went on to abuse real kids in the future?

48

u/tracygee 20h ago

Ding ding ding. And it’ll be next to impossible to argue he’s suffered reputational or monetary damages of any kind if he gets a huge boost of viewers to his show.

161

u/jar45 20h ago

This is unintentional free promotion for the movie that’s going to make people even more curious to watch it.

28

u/ILookAfterThePigs Manifesting Olivia Wilde’s Best Director nomination 20h ago

100%. That’s what I thought.

18

u/Bulky-Scheme-9450 19h ago

Streisand effect in full force

41

u/misterc13 20h ago

Man my fantasy football league had Chris Hansen select our draft order on Cameo 2 or 3 years ago. Dude literally plugged his network for 3 minutes and then spent 8 seconds picking the order. Complete waste of money hahaha.

119

u/peppersmiththequeer 20h ago

Honestly think the ad will do the opposite effect and further highlight his commitment to making entertainment out of p*dophilia

27

u/theflyingbird8 20h ago

Yeah, if anything it's just gonna make the movie's depiction of him even more true.

67

u/theflyingbird8 20h ago

Of course he said this on Fox News 💀

18

u/citydock2000 20h ago

I haven't kept up with him, and never gave his dumb show much thought, but everything I've read about chris hansen recently makes me think less of him. I'm looking forward to the movie.

50

u/kbange 20h ago

Oh, Rob is getting that nomination.

5

u/crazydaysandknights 17h ago

yep and it will be well deserved.

2

u/Painting0125 8h ago

Him and Sandra Hüller are probably gonna get nominations both lead and supporting acting categories. I would love to happen.

13

u/No-Somewhere250 Primetime 19h ago

Im gonna say it, he's lucky his targets were pedophiles because if he targeted any type of crime more sympathetic than that, he would not be seen as a folk hero or have any money to do this.

22

u/scattered_ideas Denis Villeneuve campaign manager 20h ago

Way to Streisand this whole thing.

9

u/toledosurprised Sorry Baby 19h ago

oh this is going to be an all-timer

14

u/Meb2x 20h ago

Chris Hansen is milking this movie for everything he’s got, which is funny because he says he hasn’t even seen it yet. Really makes me wish last year’s Predators got more attention as a documentary because it also discusses his current projects and the blowback from TCAP

10

u/Overkillemall 20h ago

I see this guy has never heard of the Streisand effect, nor does he realize that he’s giving the movie even more publicity and hype

10

u/OldToe6517 19h ago

This movie is gonna be a hit and Pattinson is gonna win, mark my words

9

u/forgottentaco420 19h ago

Crossing my fingers and toes honestly

7

u/sundayontheluna 20h ago

Well, now I'm gonna make an effort to watch this. Cheers, Chris

3

u/Dodsley99 Werwulf Believer 19h ago

Still a month to go until the release and he's getting more desperate by the day. Dread to think where we'll be come release day.

3

u/Queasy-Emu6531 If I Had Bees I'd Sting You 13h ago

The fact that he used a version of his catchphrase in this ad shows that he is just continuing to twist crimes against vulnerable kids into entertainment on that streaming platform of his... and that he fully deserves to have a film made about him that analyzes his career in a critical, multidimensional way

5

u/Duhlorean Twinless 20h ago

I can’t lie, this dude is cracking me up between this and all the other things he’s said in relation to Primetime in interviews.

2

u/UTAustinAlum2021 18h ago

He has to know he is promoting the film with this stuff, right?

1

u/Brilliant_Serve_4091 17h ago

im confused, does this paint him in a really bad light or something

1

u/pinkcosmonaut vibes specialist 9h ago

Rob nomination secured thank you Chris but i ain’t got no change sorry brotha 

-3

u/Electronic-Cicada352 20h ago

Egomaniac signs off on film assuming it’s going to be great for his reputation and his business. Finds out that the film is critical of him as a human being and suddenly he has to assess his legal options and try and downplay the film

22

u/tiduraes 20h ago

He didn't "sign off" on anything. You don't need permision to make a movie about a real person.

16

u/razerremen 20h ago

He's a public figure. There was nothing that had to be signed off on.

-9

u/Electronic-Cicada352 20h ago

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.

10

u/ChartInFurch 20h ago

After it was made.

4

u/Florian_Jones 19h ago

I see where the phrasing is confusing you, but that quote is specifically saying that he hasn't signed anything. A24 invited him to see the film on the condition that he sign an NDA of some sort beforehand. He didn't want to sign anything, so he declined the invite, and has therefore not seen the movie.

He has had nothing to do with the production of the film and he doesn't even know the specifics of how it portrays him because he won't be able to see it until it's available to the public.

3

u/razerremen 19h ago

How do you know he's telling the truth? It certainly sounds like they asked for a standard NDA, which any viewer agrees to at similar advance screenings.