TheWrap exclusively learns that Michael Bay, a filmmaker, is being charged in Italy with the murder of a pigeon during the 2018 set of Netflix’s blockbuster “6 Underground.”
Bay, who tried to resolve the matter with the Italian authorities but to no avail, has categorically denied all allegations on Thursday.
Bay stated in a statement to TheWrap that he is a well-known animal lover who is also a major animal activist. “No animal was hurt or endangered during the production. Or any other productions I have worked on.
“In the last 30 years.”
According to Italian authorities, a homing bird was killed in Rome during “6 Underground” production.
Italy’s protected species is the pigeon. It is illegal in Italy to kill, harm or capture wild birds, including pigeons, under any national law. The E.U. also protects pigeons. The Birds Directive protects pigeons.
An insider who was familiar with the production claims that a dolly allegedly killed a homing bird in Rome during a shoot. The insider said that a witness to the incident took a photo and reported it to the Italian authorities.
Bay stated, “We have clear evidence,” Bay added, “a multitude witnesses, and safety officials that exonerates me from these claims.” Their one paparazzi photograph is disproven, which leads to a false story.
Other details about the case were not available Thursday.
Bay stated that there is an ongoing court case and that he cannot go into details. However, he said that he was confident that we would prevail once he had his day in court.
Bay and his legal team made three attempts to have the case thrown out of court in the last year. Bay is being held responsible for the film’s production because he was its director. Bay was offered the chance to settle and pay a small penalty by Italian authorities. He declined.
Bay said that the Italian authorities offered me a chance to settle the matter by paying a small amount of money, but I declined because I wouldn’t plead guilty to having hurt an animal.”
Netflix released “6 Underground” via the streamer but declined to comment on this story. Skydance, the company that funded the project, declined to comment.
The principal production of “6 Underground” started in Italy on July 30, 2018. Filming took place in Rome, Florence and Taranto. Principal photography was completed on December 5, 2018.
Ryan Reynolds was the star of “6 Underground”, playing the role of “One,” a billionaire who leads a group that feigns death and forms a vigilante team to eliminate some very bad guys. Rhett and Paul Wernick, who are best-known for their work on Deadpool 2 and Deadpool 3, created “6 Underground,” a new idea.
The film also starred Corey Hawkins and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in the roles of “Five”, “Three”, Dave Franco and “Two”, Adria Arjona and “Four” respectively. Payman Maadi, Melanie Laurent, and Lior Raz completed the main cast.
