Sam Amico
A lot of people would kill to be in a Netflix documentary — unless it was one of those true crime stories, of course.
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And one Kentucky man is so upset about it that he’s suing the streaming giant, for the cool sum of $1 million. Or actually, according to reports, a little more than a million.
The man is Taylor Hazelwood, who says the documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker portrays him in a “sinister and defamatory light.”
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker
The show actually focuses on Caleb McGillvary, who used hatchet to subdue a man who gave him a ride before attacking a utility worker. McGillvary became an Internet sensation –– but in 2019, was convicted of murder.
But Hazelwood’s attorney said he has no connection at all to the people or events that took place in the documentary.
“Despite this, his personal Instagram photograph was included twice within the film, and the second use was included alongside a photograph of [Caleb] McGillvary, after he committed murder, with audio stating that he was either a guardian angel or a ‘stone-cold killer,'” attorney Angela Buchanan told Insider.
Hazelwood, 27, never did anything to warrant mention in the story, his attorney added, and certainly did not deserve to have his photo shown.
Hazlewood was first alerted to the use of his image when friends began contacting him after the Netflix documentary aired.
“Wtf? Explain please,” one messaged him, per the complaint.
“So something not so chill happens later in the documentary,” the complaint cites another message as saying. “Youre picture shows up again after hes charged with murder and its just bad vibes.”
Oh, for the record, Hazelwood isn’t the only one suing Netflix over the doc. So is McGillvary. He alleges that Netflix is among those that are “ruthlessly exploiting a hero’s life story for money.”
