Man sues Netflix for falsely implying he's a killer in a true crime documentary

OTT giant Netflix finds itself in trouble over a picture they have allegedly used without the consent of a person, in one of its documentaries. A man from Kentucky, US is taking the streamer to court for defamation. He appears in a documentary which falsely implies that he was involved in a murder. The man named Taylor Hazlewood is shown in 2023 true crime documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker in which a photo of his is shown along with the audio that calls him “stone-cold killer”.

The man claims that his images were taken without his knowledge from his Instagram “despite having no connection to any aspect of the Film.”

Taylor Hazlewood sued Netflix on April 10 accusing the company of defamation and misappropriation of likeness or right of publicity. He is currently seeking over $1 million and punitive damages.

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The 2023 documentary is about Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, who rose to viral stardom in 2013. He rose to fame when he saved a woman by bludgeoning her assailant with a hatchet before he was convicted for the murder of an attorney in an unrelated incident. So when Taylor made it to the video, he didn’t think too much of it even though he had an association with McGillvary. It was brought to his notice by close friends and family that his picture was used inappropriately. His friend texted him, “So something not so chill happens later in the documentary. Your picture shows up again after he’s charged with murder and it’s just bad vibes.”

Another friend messaged: “Dude this is so weird but I’m watching this murder documentary and they start flashing a bunch of peoples pictures and I said that is Hazlewood. Did they steal your photo? How did you get on there?”

In his complaint, Taylor states that the narrator states “Is this a guardian angel or a stone-cold killer” after a description of the “horrific and senseless” murder of McGillvary’s victim as the film “pulsates with a menacing and dangerous mood.” He further adds that he had no idea that the documentary would show pictures from his personal Instagram of him posing with a hatchet. He says he’s suffered reputational harm, stress, and anxiety because of the “constant fear of losing future employment or relationships because of people believing he is dangerous or untrustworthy.”

“The use was not incidental. Instead, it was Netflix’s employees’ negligently searching for images of people holding hatchets to support their narrative,” he added in his complaint.

Apart from defamation, Taylor Hazlewood also argues that the unauthorised use of his photo constitutes a false light invasion of privacy. He accuses Netflix of improperly profiting off of his picture.

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