Director Michael Bay Charged With Killing Pigeon In Italy

Filmmaker Michael Bay is now charged with killing a pigeon while he was directing a film in Italy.

Michael Bay, the blockbuster filmmaker who is famous for his Transformers movie series, was hit with charges relating to killing a pigeon in Italy back in 2018 on the set of the Netflix flick “6 Underground." However, sources connected to the production claim that all the homing pigeons used in the film landed safely during filming, TMZ reported.

"Everyone knows Michael is an animal activist. This would never happen on his set. There are dozens of witnesses who said that this didn’t happen," a source said.

However, prosecutors in Italy claim that the pigeon was killed by a dolly while Michael was filming the movie in Rome. In Rome, it is illegal to harm or kill wild birds. Authorities claim that someone from the set saw the whole thing, and took a photo before reporting it to law enforcement.

The allegation isn't that Michael himself harmed the bird. However, since Michael was the director of the movie, he's being held responsible for the incident. Michael reportedly tried to get the case thrown out several times, however, the prosecutors persisted.

Michael was reportedly given the option to pay a small fine to settle the entire case. However, Michael declined to pay the amount, saying he simply wouldn't plead guilty to harming an animal, the Wrap reported.

“I am a well-known animal lover and major animal activist,” Bay said. “No animal involved in the production was injured or harmed. Or on any other production, I’ve worked on in the past 30 years.”

“We have clear video evidence,” Bay said, “a multitude of witnesses, and safety officers that exonerates us from these claims. And disproves their one paparazzi photo — which gives a false story.”

Pigeons are a protected species in Italy. Italy has a national law that makes it illegal to harm, kill or capture any wild bird.

Principal production of the movie “6 Underground” began on July. 30, 2018, in Italy and got wrapped on Dec. 5, 2018. The film was reportedly shot in Rome, Florence, Sienna, and Taranto.