Chris Hansen turned a family title within the mid-2000s because the host of NBC’s To Catch a Predator. Years after the present ended, Hansen remains to be energetic and continues his work catching on-line predators. His story is now getting contemporary consideration with the upcoming A24 movie Primetime, which stars Robert Pattinson as Hansen and is about to launch in theaters on September 25, 2026
How ‘To Catch a Predator’ began and ended
To Catch a Predator started as a Dateline phase earlier than changing into its personal present, airing on NBC from 2003 to 2007, as per Entertainment Weekly. The present turned an enormous hit, drawing over 7 million viewers on common in its ultimate 12 months.
The present labored with the group Perverted-Justice. Actors and law enforcement officials pretended to be underage teenagers on-line to draw grownup males. Hansen would then meet the boys and confront them, typically asking them to “have a seat.”
In 2006, prosecutor Louis “Invoice” Conradt died by suicide as police tried to arrest him throughout a sting related to the present, based on NBC Information. His sister later sued the present for $109 million, as per ABC News.
The case was settled out of courtroom in 2008. That very same 12 months, NBC cancelled the present.
Additionally learn: Who is Chris Hansen? Robert Pattinson transforms into the controversial To Catch a Predator journalist in Primetime
What Hansen did after NBC
NBC didn’t renew Hansen’s contract in 2013, based on Variety. He went on to host Killer Intuition on Investigation Discovery and later Crime Watch Day by day, the place he additionally launched Hansen vs. Predator, persevering with his sting-style format.
In 2019, Hansen launched a YouTube channel known as Have a Seat With Chris Hansen, which remains to be energetic. He additionally began his personal streaming service, TruBlu, and commenced internet hosting Takedown With Chris Hansen there in 2022, bringing again the identical interview model as his unique present.
Is Chris Hansen nonetheless catching predators at this time?
Sure. Hansen remains to be making episodes of Takedown. In 2025, he labored with police in Harford County, Maryland, on a sting operation that led to 9 males being arrested. The boys have been believed to be attempting to fulfill minors for sexual encounters, based on Folks.
Through the sting, one of many males was texting with a police officer who was pretending to be a 14-year-old woman. As per People, the person instructed the officer he was apprehensive he would possibly “see Chris Hansen from the present [To] Catch a Predator there ready for him”, displaying that Hansen’s popularity nonetheless makes actual predators nervous, even years after his unique present ended.
Additionally learn: In ‘Primetime,’ Robert Pattinson takes on the ‘irresistible’ role of Chris Hansen
His authorized troubles
Hansen has confronted just a few authorized points over time. In January 2019, he was arrested in Stamford, Connecticut, for issuing unhealthy checks price $13,000 to a neighborhood enterprise, as per Folks. The case was dropped after he paid the invoice, together with his lawyer calling it an “oversight.”
In July 2021, a warrant was issued for Hansen’s arrest in Shiawassee County, Michigan, after he failed to indicate up in courtroom to submit paperwork associated to a sting operation he had assisted police with in October the 12 months earlier than, as per Folks. Hansen addressed the problem on Instagram, saying, “There was miscommunication a couple of listening to at this time on the problem. The matter is at the moment being resolved!”