Whew! Famed director Michael Bay, who is perhaps best known for his work on the “Transformers” franchise is making headlines after being hit with charges in Italy pertaining to the death of a pigeon. Yes, you read correctly. According to The Wrap, the 57-year-old was filming his movie, “6 Underground,” back in 2018, when a pigeon was allegedly killed during production.
Per the news publication, authorities claim that the pigeon died shortly after being struck by a dolly while filming a scene out in Rome. One of the crew members who’d been working on the motion picture secretly decided to take a photo of the incident and reported it to law enforcement officials. Given that pigeons and birds are protected under the Birds Directive law in the EU, it is therefore a crime to hurt or kill them.
Michael Bay when he sees a pigeon https://t.co/25U6C3bC5p pic.twitter.com/BqwckmyH0l
— CM423 (@Gamer_CM423) January 12, 2023
In response to the serious allegations thrown against him, Bay issued a statement, asserting that he would never hurt any kind of animal, nor has one ever been hurt during the production of one of his movies. “I am a well-known animal lover and major animal activist,” he said. “No animal involved in the production was injured or harmed. Or on any other production, I’ve worked on in the past 30 years.”
Bay went on to assure fans that he’s not stressing about the case because he has more than enough evidence that will prove his innocence and ultimately see the case dismissed. Given tha the pigeon was allegedly killed by a dolly on the set of his movie, there would have been countless cameras that would’ve recorded the fatal last moments of the animal.
Bay adds that he has “clear video evidence” that shows he nor any of his crew members were responsible for the pigeon dying on his set, further dispelling initial claims that it was his dolly equipment that killed the bird.
the pigeons when michael bay touch a pigeon next time: pic.twitter.com/sjxPkTVVYH
— 🄶🄰🄱🅁🄸🄴🄻 CASTILLO Q. (@elgabrielandres) January 13, 2023
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Bay was allegedly approached to settle the matter out of court but he says he refused the offer because he knows he had nothing to do with the pigeon dying. He also wasn’t going to plead guilty to having harmed an animal when he’s one of their biggest activists.
The case remains ongoing.