A respiratory therapist from Kentucky is suing Netflix for $1 million after the streaming giant used an image of him in a documentary about a convicted killer who had nothing to do with it.
Taylor Hazlewood, 27, says Netflix portrayed him in an “evil and defamatory light” after he twice used a photo of him posing with an ax in its documentary The Wielding Hitchhiker even though he was not involved.
The new show tells the story of Caleb ‘Kai’ McGillvary who went from sensation to convicted murderer in the space of a year. Speaking to a local TV station in 2013, the 34-year-old famously reenacted how he smashed a man over the head with an ax to save a woman from being attacked.
But three months later he was arrested for killing a New Jersey attorney in a separate incident in California. He claimed he was acting in self-defense but was found guilty of first degree murder.
Hazlewood Suit states that throughout the show his image is shown as the narrator asks if he is a “cold” killer. The lawsuit, filed in Dallas County Court on Monday, says Netflix faked his appearance in an act of “sheer recklessness.”
Taylor Hazlewood, 27, of Kentucky, is suing Netflix for using a photo of him wielding a hatchet in its documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker even though he was not involved
An image of him holding a hatcher (far right) was used in the documentary while the narrator asked if he was a ‘cold killer’
Caleb ‘Kai’ McGillvary becomes a sensation after giving a nonchalant interview in which he explains how he used a hatchet to save a woman from a fatal attack
“Hazlewood, of course, is beyond the outrage that Netflix would have been embroiled in associating it with such an outrageous, outrageous, and singular story,” the lawsuit he obtained. Washington Post He says.
McGillvary, 34, shot to fame after he gave a viral interview in which he explained how he saved a woman from a deadly attack in February 2013.
He was hitchhiking through Fresno, California when the man who was picking him up, Jett McBride, crashed his car into a utility worker.
McBride then attacked the worker and a woman who tried to intervene.
McGillvary claimed he took a hatchet from his bag and smashed McBride in the head repeatedly to stop him.
McBride was later found guilty of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Explaining his role in the incident, McGillvary, who wore a hood over his broken hair, began his interview with KMPH by saying, “No matter what you did, you deserve respect.” Even if you make mistakes, you are loved.
He memorably showed the interviewer how he hit McBride on the head, describing the blows with the words: “Smash, smash, hit.”
The hitchhiker, McGillvary, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel after it went viral
McGillvary on Kimmel. His reputation as a hero was short-lived after he was arrested for murder three months later in the wake of a separate incident
The video went viral overnight and has been viewed more than 8 million times since then.
Canadian-born McGillvary soon appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
But three months later, he was arrested and charged with the murder of New Jersey attorney Joseph Galvey.
McGilvary claimed he was acting in self-defense, saying Joseph drugged and raped him after he offered him a place to stay.
But prosecutors argued during the trial that his version of events changed several times and that the injuries on Joseph’s body—he suffered three broken bones and four broken ribs—were too severe for self-defense.
McGillvary was found guilty of first degree murder in 2019 and sentenced to 57 years in prison.
Towards the end of the Netflix documentary, Hazlewood is pictured wielding a hatchet as the narrator asks, “Is that a guardian angel or a cold killer?”
The lawsuit says Hazelwood is ‘extremely angry that Netflix has implicated and associated him with such an outrageous, outrageous, and individual story’
She claims that the use of his image “caused Hazelwood a constant fear of losing employment or future relationships because people thought he was dangerous or untrustworthy.”
McGillvary became a social media sensation but was convicted of murder just a year later
The lawsuit, filed by Hazlewood, alleges the photo was taken in June 2019 after he unearthed a friend’s hatchet, which reminded him of his favorite childhood book, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen.
Hazlewood picked him up and posed for a photo, which he posted to Instagram.
More than three and a half years later, Netflix released its documentary and texts began pouring into Hazlewood’s phone, the lawsuit states.
A friend from Hawaii said, “It’s very strange but I’m watching this murder documentary and they start showing a bunch of pictures of people and I said this is Hazlewood. Did they steal your picture? How did you get there?”
Another message from Virginia: “Why are you on Netflix?”
A former co-worker who lives in Ohio texted him: “They put your picture up with a killer lol.”
The lawsuit states that the documentary tarnished Hazlewood’s reputation, adding: “The use causes Hazlewood’s lingering fear of losing employment or future relationships because people think it is dangerous or untrustworthy.”
McGillvary is also suing Netflix for $3 million in a separate case that accuses the documentary of ‘ruthlessly exploiting the hero’s life story for money’, according to the report. Fresno P.I. She is still working her way through the US District Court in Central California.
Netflix declined to comment.
