Director Of Transformers Movies Michael Bay, Charged In Italy For Allegedly Killing Pigeon During Filming

By Syakir Roslan  •  in News
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source: StudioBinder

Are you familiar with Michael Bay’s movies?

Some of you might know the name Michael Bay but for those of you who don’t, he’s the guy who directed the Bad Boys and Transformers movies among many other blockbusters.

If you’ve seen any of his movies, you’d know that he LOVES ACTION. Apparently art does imitate life after the filmmaker was charged in Italy for allegedly killing a pigeon back in 2018 while shooting the film 6 Underground.

source: Entertainment Weekly

According to The Wrap, Bay, who denies the allegations, has tried to communicate with Italian authorities and exempt him from the case but did not succeed.

Bay told The Wrap that he is a “well-known animal lover and major animal activist,” adding that “No animal involved in the production was injured or harmed. Or on any other production I’ve worked on in the past 30 years.”

source: YouTube

Italian police claim that a homing pigeon was killed during the production of 6 Underground when they shot in Rome. It’s important to note that in Italy, pigeons are a protected species.

The country has a law where it is illegal to hurt, kill or capture wild birds. Additionally, pigeons are also by the Birds Directive in the EU.

source: Y.M.Cinema

Insider knowledge revealed that a dolly camera was responsible for killing the pigeon. An anonymous individual who was on set claimed to have seen the incident and snapped a photo before reporting it to Italian authorities.

Disputing the claims, Bay said “We have clear video evidence,” and “a multitude of witnesses, and safety officers that exonerates us from these claims. And disproves their one paparazzi photo — which gives a false story.”

Regarding the case, Bay stated that as it is still ongoing, he could not go into specifics but assured that he was “confident we will prevail when I have my day in court,”

source: NBC News

Three attempts to throw the case out were made by Bay and his legal team last year. But because he was in charge of the film during production, the blame fell on him.

The Wrap also reported that Bay was given the option to settle by paying a small fine which he declined stating “I was offered by the Italian authorities a chance to settle this matter by paying a small fine, but I declined to do so because I would not plead guilty to having harmed an animal,” said Bay.

Both Netflix who released the movie on their streaming platform and Skydance who financed the project declined to comment regarding the incident.

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