Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have to welcome a special guest to the Mojo
in the morning show. Personal friend of our show, local Detroiter,
national superstar, worldwide superstar, the one and only to catch
a predator. Chris Hansen is on the phone with us
this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I can see. Can you hear me?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Fantastic.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I got you.
Speaker 4 (00:21):
How are you doing? Good.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Could you do your famous line to all of us here?
We got everybody in the studio.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Mojo and the rest of you i'm gonna need all
of you to take a seat right over.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
There makes me nervous i need to know.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I've been looking at your transcripts.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Have you ever had anybody that you had to physically
sit like i know that you i've seen a couple
episodes but have you ever had to physically sit them
no you.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Know we um We're surrounded by law enforcement, especially in
the current takedown episodes that are on my streamer, True Blue.
So if it gets hairy at all, you know, I
know when to step away and law enforcement will step
in and they'll have a seat.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
All right.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Several.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
OK, so we got Chris Hansen on the phone with
us right now. And this is a big deal, guys.
You've been in the dirties on the 30s.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yes, you have.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Because of Hollywood. And you and I talked yesterday on text.
that LA times article is an interesting one. I want
to get into that. So I, let me set this
up real quick for any listener that doesn't know this
Robert Pattinson, you know, the guy from the twilight movies,
Robert Pattinson is going to be playing Chris Hansen in
(01:37):
a movie depicting what Chris did on television, but also
I'm assuming depicting your life or who you are, maybe
even off camera to Chris.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Well, it's a work of fiction, Mojo.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
We had heard there was something in the works, A24,
a very popular studio, a popular director, Lance Oppenheim, and
obviously Robert Pattinson, who's one of the hottest actors out
there now, were working on a film called Primetime. The
odd thing, Mojo, is that they never reached out to
me until May of this year. And they sent me
the initial trailer and said, hey, we're doing this movie together.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
You're in it. It's about you. We'd love to have
your support. We'll get back to you.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
And, you know, to find out that they've used not
only my name, but the names of former colleagues and
family members in what is a work of fiction. You know,
I think it reflects Hollywood hubris that they could just
do this. And there's only one reason why they use
real names in a work of fiction, and that is
(02:41):
to profit from it because they know there's commercial value
using my name, image, and likeness.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
So that's what they've done.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
And we were supposed to go screen the movie a
couple weeks ago, and they asked that I sign a
nondisclosure agreement that was very restrictive. They said, 824, that
it was procedure-based. And that was a standard boilerplate language. Well,
it might be standard for anyone else seeing it. But
if your name is Chris Hansen and your name is
(03:11):
used in the movie, it is anything but standard. It
is very restrictive. So we didn't sign it. The people
were very pleasant, but we didn't get a chance to
see the movie. So here we are today.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
So it's interesting. So they make you sign this thing
and they make it seem like they're doing it to
keep you from going and speaking to the world about this.
But in reality, there are also probably hidden language in
there to keep you from suing potentially if you wanted to.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Well, the language wasn't even hidden. It was in paragraph five. And,
you know, I had some people look at this, some
people who are very knowledgeable in this field. You can't
sign that. Don't sign anything. If they want to be
gracious and show you the movie, go see the movie.
Withhold judgment until you can think about it for a
few days and let them know what you think. but
(03:55):
it didn't even get that far. We got to the
offices in New York. We had coffee and everybody was nice.
They said, oh, where's the NDA? I said, you know,
I can't sign that. And I knew that there were
others who saw the movie without signing the NDA. So
I called them out on it and they didn't have
any good answers for it.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Do you, like you mentioned, there were colleagues and family
members whose name was also used in the film.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Do you know if they signed NDA?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Well, they haven't seen the film.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So you were the only one. You were the only
one that was proposed.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Nobody was approached prior to this film going into production.
In other words, if you're going to make a film,
obviously you have creative license.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I'm a public figure.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
That makes it more difficult for me to take any
action should I not like something or should I think
it's illegal or inappropriate in any way. So I get that.
I've been a public figure for 40-plus years. But you
have to question the motives– if they don't even reach
out to you and say, hey, we're doing this. We'd
like to chat. We'd like some input. Maybe Robert would
(04:55):
like to talk to you or the director would like
to talk to you. But they didn't do any of that.
Speaker 6 (05:00):
But not even that, Chris. I feel like and obviously
I'm not a lawyer, but I feel like when there
is a movie that is based on true events and
in this case, based on a real person, you at
the end or the beginning, you always get that disclaimer.
This was based on true events. Some names have been changed.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 6 (05:20):
And I always felt like they did that for legal purposes.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So that's what I'm wondering.
Speaker 6 (05:25):
What is the loophole here that they were able to
base an entire movie off of you and use details
about you, not only personally, but also personally, and then
get away with it?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Well, the details are made up. They're fictional.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
You know, based upon what I've been told by people
who have seen the movie and based upon the trailer
that I've seen and that, you know, everybody has seen. So,
you know, I think they're just betting that they'll get
away with it. They made this dark version of reality
and they're hoping it's a commercial success and they're hoping
that they don't have any consequences here. And again, it's
(06:00):
Hollywood hubris. It's the arrogance that's reflective of the industry.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
So Chris Hansen is on with us right now. We
all know Chris.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
You can watch Chris in his brand new investigations on
True Blue. But so I want to tell you, Robert
Pattinson's a pretty good casting.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I mean, I mean, I would take that.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I mean, that's, they could have picked somebody else that,
you know, was less flattering, but do they make you
look bad in this? Do you know from some of
the people that have seen it? Cause I've heard rumors
about that.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Well, I haven't seen the film mojo, so I can't
speak to the entirety of it, but you know, the
clips that I've seen in, in the things that, that.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
I've heard, You know, it's fiction.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
It's a dark version of, you know, one season or
one year of To Catch a Predator.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
You know, I think that they're doing it in the
genre that they've done other movies, you know, whether it's.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Vampires or Batman or whatever.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
So they want to create this complicated, nuanced character that
they think will make for a compelling story.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
The problem is it's not based on the truth.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Real name.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
And I think at some level, it's even deeper and
more disturbing than that. I think that what they've done
is in some ways an insult to the thousands of
men and women who go out diligently every day and
try to protect children from predators. I was in Sacramento,
California last week with a group of survivors, Epstein survivors
(07:37):
and school sexual abuse survivors, campaigning for the protection of
children who are assaulted in the California public school system.
I do this stuff every day because it's the right
thing to do, not because I get paid for it.
You know, you have to, if you're going to be
in this field, you have to do it for the
right reasons. And so it hits me that a film
(07:59):
like this is very exploitive.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
And I've seen nothing.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
About the producers or the filmmaker or the studio donating
any of the proceeds to organizations that protect children. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
That's what we know this to me. And we know
this firsthand because of you living here. But we also
know that you do this is this is something obviously
that you have made a living doing. But also you
are really big on giving back to a lot of
the organizations that are out there that deal with, you know,
trafficking and and such. So I do want to ask.
(08:34):
So Chris Hansen, first off, Kevin, I think Denzel should
play you in the Kevin Irwin.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
I was so lucky. You're only so lucky. Where's the NDA?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Kevin, if you were to be Chris Hansen, would you
immediately file a lawsuit to keep this movie from coming out?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
If I was Chris? Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
I'll let it come out a little bit at first,
and then I'll probably file it later on.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I ain't going to lock Chris down.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
When I first saw the trailer, I said, this movie
about to be fire. This is right after the time
I think you came in the studio and we met you.
I thought Robert Pattinson was incredible. I was like, oh,
my God, this is about to be like the name
of the movie. This is about to be prime time.
Everybody's going to be glued to the television screen.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I was excited.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
So to hear that you don't have any involvement does
make me want to distance myself in a way.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
But yeah, let it, let it.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Come out, see what the streets say and then handle
your business.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Well, that's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
And that's why, you know, we went out and my
partners at True Blue went out and bought advertising in
front of every showing of this film. So everybody who
sees this film in 3,500 movie theaters in America, before
they see the film are going to see me reminding
(09:56):
them that we're doing this very important work every day.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
So smart. That's awesome. Hey, Chris, can we do a
premiere at one of the Imagine Theaters here? Oh, my God, yes!
Have you come out? We maybe raised money for... An organization,
a charitable organization.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
We're going to raise money for a charitable organization that
combats people who exploit children.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
I'm in.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Come on, Allie.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I know you're listening.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Chris, I appreciate you so much. I know you're on
West Coast time right now, right? You're out in the
West Coast?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Someplace in the middle.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Oh, in the middle?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Undisclosed location.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Oh, wait. Are you doing some more filming? Are you
guys doing some more?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
We're working as we speak.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh, my God. Isn't that wild?
Speaker 4 (10:39):
When we do....
Speaker 2 (10:41):
The screening.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
We're going to speak it into existence. Chris, when you
walk in, I'm going to say, have a seat right here.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
That's what we.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Do in the app. So if people go.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
See the movie.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
It's me telling them to have a seat in the theater.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Oh, that's great, Chris. That's brilliant. Appreciate you coming on
with us, Chris.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I appreciate you guys. Take care.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I'll talk to you soon, man.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I'll come in next time.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
See you, buddy. Thank you. Take care.
Speaker 6 (11:08):
I really do want to have him in because I
still want to pick his brain.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
About kids' apps, Roblox, CapCut coverage.
Speaker 6 (11:16):
He's so knowledgeable about that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And there's other, you know, he and I recently were
talking and he said to me he's working on another investigation.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
That is almost bigger than the Roblox.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
So, Chris Hansen.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
No, I was going to say I wonder his thoughts
on the Facebook thing that just happened.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, I'm doing it.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yeah, we could have got him a, hey, now Michelle
McCormick's going to call me up and she's going to
critique this interview and go, why didn't you ask him that?