The Wrap is reporting that Transformers director Michael Bay is facing charges in Italy relating to the death of a pigeon on the set of Netflix's 6 Underground back in 2018.
The filmmaker is said to have made several attempts to clear the case, and categorically denies the allegations. In a statement to the trade, he said: "I am a well-known animal lover and major animal activist. No animal involved in the production was injured or harmed. Or on any other production I’ve worked on in the past 30 years."
Pigeons are a protected species in Italy, and there's a law which makes it illegal to harm, kill, or capture any wild birds. A homing pigeon is alleged to have been killed by a dolly while filming was taking place in Rome, with a witness providing Italian authorities with a description and photo of what they claim to have seen happen.
To that, Bay says, "We have clear video evidence, a multitude of witnesses, and safety officers that exonerates us from these claims. And disproves their one paparazzi photo - which gives a false story."
"There is an ongoing court case so I cannot get into the specifics, but I am confident we will prevail when I have my day in court."
Even though Bay wasn't operating the equipment, he's deemed responsible as the movie's director. Several attempts have been made to get the case thrown out, and the director declined an offer to settle by paying a small fine as "I would not plead guilty to having harmed an animal."
Ryan Reynolds starred in 6 Underground from a script by Deadpool franchise scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. It received mostly negative reviews and was largely forgotten about after being released on the streaming platform. Needless to say, we didn't expect it to find its way back into the headlines quite like this.
We'll be sure to keep a bird's eye view of this situation as it develops.