‘To Catch A Predator’ host criticises “bizarre” ‘Primetime’: “I’m not sure what the point of it was”

To Catch A Predator host Chris Hansen has given his verdict on new film Primetime, which depicts him and the production of his series.

The Lance Oppenheim-directed movie is based on Esquire article ‘Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die’, and stars Robert Pattinson as Hansen, a journalist whose team posed as underage children online before confronting suspected sexual predators while on camera.

The real Hansen has now seen the film and shared his reaction, saying in an X video: “It was so bizarre and so in-and-out of reality.

“Obviously, I’m not objective because the character is me, but it was so detached from reality or anything I’ve ever experienced then or now doing the investigations. I’m not sure what the point of it was.”

Well….I saw Primetime. My reaction tonight 7p eastern on my podcast/YouTube channel Have A Seat With Chris Hansen ! pic.twitter.com/dMEErgVriH

— Chris Hansen (@chrishansen) September 25, 2026

Speaking further to Fox News’ Jesse Watters on the Have a Seat with Chris Hansen podcast, the presenter gave Pattinson’s performance a “D”, while also claiming the film was mostly fictional.

“In all honesty, what bothered me most was it portrayed me as an aloof, detached father to my sons, which was so far from reality, and for them to do that really is just a cheap shot with no entertainment, literary or benefit to any viewer or society,” he added. “It’s just mean-spirited, untrue and unworthy of the viewer’s time.”

However, Hansen did add: “If you’re a fan of A24, if you’re a fan of Robert Pattinson, make up your own mind. Go see it. But realize that when you do go see it that it is absolutely a fictional portrayal of me, of my colleagues, of the series and of the very hard, diligent enterprise work that we did then and do now.”

The presenter had previously bought ad space before upcoming screenings of Primetime to promote his true crime network TruBlu.

Alongside Pattinson, the film also features Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Matthew Maher, Anna Faris, Alex Winter and Phoebe Bridgers – the latter of whom has also released a new song called ‘On Video’ for Primetime.

In NME’s four-star review of the film, we called it “a smartly acted and queasily effective drama”, adding: “A tricky uncomfortable story, Primetime is unsettling but worth the effort.”

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