“Primetime” is a box office success, but the film’s subject A24 calls it a “complete work of fiction.”
Lance Oppenheim’s film centers on “To Catch a Predator,” the popular segment of “Dateline” that ran from 2004 to 2007. In the series, an advocacy group of adult callers posing as children chatted with online predators in order to lure them into a home, ostensibly to have sex with a minor. But instead of their prey, they would be greeted by host Chris Hansen (played by Robert Pattinson), who would question the predators about why they were pursuing illicit and illegal businesses. The suspects were then arrested by law enforcement who were waiting outside the house.
The film is based specifically on the 2009 Esquire article “Tonight on ‘Dateline’ This Man Will Die,” which chronicled an episode of the series involving Louis William Conradt Jr., an assistant district attorney from Murphy, Texas, who died by suicide after being caught in a police operation conducted in coordination with the “Predator” team.
Hansen continues his work on his media platform, TruBlu, which hosts shows such as “Predator’s” spiritual successor, “Takedown With Chris Hansen,” launching in 2022.
Variety spoke with Hansen a few days after watching “Primetime.” He discussed his views on his box office success, which parts bother his former colleagues the most, and what legal action he might take against A24.
Did you have the kind of mentorship with any of the decoys as depicted in the film?
No. The only elements of the film that are not the fact that he uses my name and two or three slogans is romanticized. Everything else is fictionalized. Yes, there was an assistant DA who tragically committed suicide, but the circumstances surrounding it, the timeline, the events, it may be based in reality, but none of it is truthful. It is a complete work of fiction.
The entire film leads up to the suicide of Louis William Conradt Jr. in 2006, and Chris Hansen’s film version has a major crisis after his appearance. What was going through your head while this was happening? Thinking about it now, do you treat it differently?
Look, no one wants to see someone commit suicide. But in this case, you had an official, an assistant prosecuting attorney, who, according to police and evidence collected in the case, conducted sexually explicit conversations with decoys posing as two different teenagers. In Texas, as in many other states, it is a crime. He did not show up at the house, but police made the decision to obtain a warrant based on probable cause. And I think if you talked to the police who make these decisions, they would tell you that they were concerned that evidence might be destroyed and that they were going to execute this arrest warrant at his home.
Obviously we knew they were going to do this and we captured the action from the street. And when they walked in, according to Murphy police, he had a gun in his hand. He said, “I’m not going to hurt you guys,” and killed himself. Later, the Texas Rangers investigated and determined that the computer whose hard drive he was trying to extract had child pornography. As a prosecutor, he knew that in Texas you could potentially face 10 years in prison for each of these images. So no one can tell you exactly why Bill Conradt committed suicide. Nobody wanted this to happen. It’s tragic for his family. It’s tragic for him. But to insinuate that there was any pressure from us to go and arrest him or get him or find him or cajole him, that just didn’t happen. He surfaced like any other alleged predator during an investigation. The lures won’t pick them up. They investigate and they find us.
The rules on this are very, very explicit. But we caught a number of A-listers. We were in San Francisco last month, and an Ivy League-educated lawyer who ran a multimillion-dollar investment fund showed up in the middle of the day to sexually exploit a 6- and 13-year-old boy whose father he thought was going to participate in the sex act. We are not looking for people; they find us. The entire premise of the film is false. This is a false narrative. This did not happen. If that were the case and the police wanted to make a publicity splash, wouldn’t you think they would wait until Monday, while he was sitting in his DA’s office, to burst in, pick him up and get him out of there? That’s what they would have done. Everyone wants to say this was done for clicks and ratings, and it wasn’t; it was just part of an investigation.
If anyone would take a moment, as some content creators did, and look at the story that we did on this particular case, and look at what we did on “The Today Show” the next morning, we were painstakingly transparent about what happened, how it happened, and, as far as we knew, why it happened, as we have done with this franchise from the very beginning, and we continue to this day when we conduct these investigations that we now let’s call it “Takedown With Chris Hansen.” The impression that someone involved was trying hard or that there was a producer hungry for an audience, none of that is true. Even the notion of the name of the film, “Primetime” – “Dateline” has always been present on prime time television. It wasn’t like it was at 2 a.m. and we were trying to air it in prime time. It was always prime time. No discussion in this film ever took place.
“Predator” launched on “Dateline,” which is a journalism platform, but do you consider your work journalism, advocacy, or something else?
There are people who think that we have always worked closely with law enforcement. But my argument is that this is the only way to be socially responsible and ensure that justice is served in these cases. During the first two investigations, we did not collaborate with law enforcement. We didn’t know what was going to happen, but it became very clear during the third investigation that we needed a police presence. This has evolved over the last 22 years and has become, in my opinion, the best possible way to do this. This is about ensuring justice and ensuring the security of the chain of custody of evidence. And also, look, no matter how horrible the crime, everyone in this country has the right to a vigorous defense. So the materials that we capture, obviously, everyone has access to them. Whether you are a prosecutor or a defender, everyone deserves their fair day in court.
“Primetime” focuses on the series, but it delves into an understanding of your personal life and your love life as seen through tabloid media. How did you feel seeing him in the film?
That’s par for the course. You know, even the filmmakers will tell you that it’s fiction. And, you know, even when something potentially reflects a real event, the timeline has changed to make it work within the filmmaker’s narrative. But again, the timeline and the narrative and all of that is fiction. And so, the motivations and everything that’s detailed in the movie, none of that actually happened the way it’s portrayed. For them to do this, what is the motivation to make this film? We’re talking about it a lot at the moment. What does this say about Hollywood? If you’re going to make a fiction film, why are you using my name?
The reason you use it is because I spent 45 years building a very valuable brand and they wanted to exploit it. They know that if they use the name “Chris Hansen,” people will come see the movie. Most of them will understand that the film is fiction, and there is a graphic at the end of the film that says so. But that’s not how it’s portrayed at the beginning of the film. And because there was such an attempt to imitate – although I think it was much more dramatic and exaggerated – my mannerisms and my lines and everything I’ve said over the years, they made it almost like a science fiction movie, with the greens and the vampire look of the character. It’s just above. In fact, it was so over the top that I was like, “What’s the point?” » And once again, I am not objective, because they exploited me, my brand and my image, for commercial purposes. But many people find this unfair. Many people think it’s identity theft in one way or another.
What do you think was the filmmakers’ main argument regarding the media and Hollywood?
I don’t know. I mean, I invited filmmaker Lance Oppenheim on my podcast to talk about the film. I invited him and Robert Pattinson to come. And look, Robert Pattinson is a very good actor. And I think a lot of people would find it flattering that this guy was chosen to represent me. But the way it was done is certainly not flattering. So what is Hollywood’s main goal here? I mean, there are people who would point out that this is an industry run by one of the most prolific predators on the planet, Harvey Weinstein. And so you can’t take that out of the equation. Maybe that was an influence, not Harvey Weinstein himself, but maybe that attitude in Hollywood had an influence here? Maybe not. I don’t know what the motive is. You ask Lance Oppenheim, and he’ll tell you it’s one interpretation of the internet’s interpretation of another Chris Hansen interpretation. What does this mean? I’m a pretty bright guy. I’ve been a corporate journalist for 45 years, all over the world, in dangerous places, and I’ve had to unravel some very, very difficult mysteries. But I don’t know what he’s talking about…
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