His story is now getting fresh attention with the upcoming A24 film Primetime , which stars Robert Pattinson as Hansen and is set to release in theaters on September 25, 2026 Chris Hansen became a household name in the mid-2000s as the host of NBC’s To Catch a Predator. Years after the show ended, Hansen is still active and continues his work catching online predators.
To Catch a Predator began as a Dateline segment before becoming its own show, airing on NBC from 2003 to 2007, as per Entertainment Weekly . The show became a massive hit, drawing over 7 million viewers on average in its final year. His sister later sued the show for $109 million, as per ABC News . The case was settled out of court in 2008. In 2019, Hansen launched a YouTube channel called Have a Seat With Chris Hansen, which is still active. He also started his own streaming service, TruBlu, and began hosting Takedown With Chris Hansen there in 2022, bringing back the same interview style as his original show. During the sting, one of the men was texting with a police officer who was pretending to be a 14-year-old girl. In July 2021, a warrant was issued for Hansen’s arrest in Shiawassee County, Michigan , after he failed to show up in court to submit documents related to a sting operation he had assisted police with in October the year before, as per People.
The show worked with the group Perverted-Justice. Actors and police officers pretended to be underage teens online to attract adult men. Hansen would then meet the men and confront them, often asking them to “have a seat. That same year, NBC cancelled the show. The matter is currently being resolved!”
In 2006, prosecutor Louis “Bill” Conradt died by suicide as police tried to arrest him during a sting connected to the show, according to NBC News. As per People , the man told the officer he was worried he might “see Chris Hansen from the show [To] Catch a Predator there waiting for him”, showing that Hansen’s reputation still makes real predators nervous, even years after his original show ended. Hansen addressed the issue on Instagram, saying, “There was miscommunication about a hearing today on the issue.
