Sacrifice a bird to the gods of cinema, and all you’ll get is a lousy 36 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Director Michael Bay allegedly learned that lesson the hard way, according to TheWrap, which reported Thursday that Italian authorities had charged the adrenaline auteur over a supposed incident in which a pigeon met its end on a Rome shoot for 6 Underground. A source told the outlet that the pigeon—a protected species in Italy—was killed by a camera dolly. The incident was reported by someone on the Netflix set who took a photo of the dead animal to the local police. Bay, 57, categorically denied the allegations in a statement. “I am a well-known animal lover and major animal activist,” Bay told TheWrap. “No animal involved in the production was injured or harmed. Or on any other production I’ve worked on in the past 30 years.” The director explained that he had been offered the chance to settle the matter by paying “a small fine,” but that he’d refused to plead guilty to having harmed an animal. Claiming that he had video evidence and witnesses who would clear his name, Bay said he was “confident we will prevail when I have my day in court.”
