A Kentucky man is suing Netflix for more than $1 million after the streaming giant used his photo in the true crime documentary, The Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker, while asking the question, “Is this a guardian angel or a stone-cold killer?”
The lawsuit states that a photo of Taylor Hazlewood was used without his permission in a murder story, which he had nothing to do with, according to a report by Business Insider.
Hazlewood is seeking more than $1 million in damages, saying that The Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker — a documentary about 2013 internet celebrity-turned-killer Caleb “Kai” McGillvary — portrays him in a “sinister and defamatory light.”
The Kentucky man “had no connection whatsoever to the people or events depicted in the film,” Hazlewood’s attorney Angela Buchanan told Insider.
“Despite this, his personal Instagram photograph was included twice within the film, and the second use was included alongside a photograph of McGillvary, after he committed murder, with audio stating that he was either a guardian angel or a ‘stone-cold killer,’” the attorney added.
Hazelwood “never sought or did anything to attract attention for the McGillvary story,” Buchanan said.
Netflix’s The Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker is a 2023 true crime documentary that focuses on McGillvary — better known to the public as Kai — who became an internet sensation ten years ago after he subdued an attacker, but was later himself convicted of murder.
McGillvary became an internet celebrity as a hitchhiker who used a hatchet to intervene in an assault being carried out by Jett McBride, a man who was attacking a utility worker.
After the attack, it was McGillvary’s bizarre media interview that quickly went viral on social media. In the interview, the hitchhiker proclaimed “smash, smash, smash!” to describe how he used his hatchet against the attacker.
A mere three months later, McGillvary himself was wanted for the killing of New Jersey lawyer Joseph Galfy, and in 2019, he was convicted of first-degree murder.
While documenting McGillvary’s rise to stardom and ultimate demise, the film uses several of the hitchhiker’s photos and videos from social media. But oddly, one of the photos is from Hazlewood’s personal Instagram account, the lawsuit states.
Hazlewood first found out about his photo — which shows him holding a hatchet — being used in the Netflix murder documentary when a friend messaged him, writing, “Wtf? Explain please.”
Hazlewood said he was holding a hatchet in his Instagram photo to honor his favorite childhood book, “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen.
“Mr. Hazlewood’s original Instagram post is tagged with this book and author, so there should have been no confusion by any company doing its homework when sourcing content,” Buchanan said.
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