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Primetime true story: What happened to Chris Hansen and To Catch a Predator?
The film is out in cinemas now.
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- Molly Moss
Published: Friday, 30 October 2026 at 12:36 pm
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In the late 2000s, Chris Hansen rose to fame confronting adult men lured to a sting house expecting to meet underage boys or girls on Dateline NBC's show To Catch a Predator.
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Working with law enforcement agencies all over the country, Hansen and his team employed hidden cameras and actors posing as minors to catch alleged paedophiles.
Now, the series’ rise and fall serves as the inspiration for Lance Oppenheim's Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson as host Hansen.
Primetime follows Pattinson’s Hansen as he becomes obsessed with catching what he and his crew call the "whale” – the biggest, highest-profile figure yet. This target is Bill Conradt, an assistant district attorney from Rockland County, Texas.
But just as Conradt (played by Bill & Ted star Alex Winter) is about to be caught during a taping of To Catch a Predator, he fatally shoots himself in the head.
The new A24 movie is based heavily on journalist Luke Dittrich’s 2007 Esquire investigation, Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die, which explored the details surrounding Conradt's real-life suicide and its effects on the show.
So, how accurate is Primetime, what happened to Bill Conradt in real life and where is Chris Hansen now? Read everything you need to know about the true story behind the new film.
What happened to Bill Conradt in real life?
While the movie does omit some details about Conradt’s personal life, which are explored in Dittrich’s article, and also alters the time of the day the siege on his home took place – changing it from mid-afternoon to night time for dramatic effect – the portrayal of Conradt's suicide in Primetime largely mirrors what was reported in real life.
In November 2006, Conradt, a 56-year-old assistant district attorney, had been caught communicating online with an actor posing as a 13-year-old boy.
When he failed to show up at the decoy house where Hansen and police were waiting, the operation moved to his home in Terrell, TX, instead.
A police spokesman said (via NBC News) “police forced their way into Conradt’s Terrell home after hearing a gunshot when he refused to answer the door”. The officers found Conradt with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and he later died in hospital.
In 2007, Conradt’s sister sued NBC for $105 million, claiming that the network has pushed police into confronting him at his home.
NBC denied wrongdoing and they eventually reached an out-of-court settlement that same year.
Though Conradt’s death triggered intense debate about the legal and ethical limits of the show’s public-shaming approach, it didn’t end To Catch a Predator directly, with the show airing its final episode in December 2007. Hansen later claimed the series simply “ran its course”.
Robert Pattinson in Primetime A24
Asked how he feels about Conradt’s death being re-examined in the film, Hansen told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of its release: "We were completely transparent about what happened from the moments after it happened. This was no secret. It was unfortunate that somebody chose to take his life rather than face criminal consequences. You can draw your own conclusions as to why. They found child pornography on his computer. He had sexually explicit conversations with two different decoys posing as 13-year-old boys."
He continued: "I can’t speak for the police, but they decided to arrest him, apparently concerned about the possible destruction of evidence. He chose to take his life rather than face the consequences. We reported what we knew the next day on the Today show and continued to be transparent throughout the story.
"There are certain things you can’t control. Obviously, you don’t want anybody taking their own life, but that was a decision made by that individual. They’ll ramp it up in the film, I’m sure, and make it more dramatic than it really was. It was based upon an Esquire article that came out years ago that was a bit of a hit piece then, and apparently it’s part of the narrative in the film."
Is Primetime's Dan Plumb a real person?
No, there are a number of fictional characters in the film, including Dan Plumb (played by Skyler Gisondo), an aspiring actor who is hired on the show.
This character is based on Dan Schrack, who was hired as a decoy on To Catch a Predator.
Schrack served as the decoy in the real-life sting operation to catch Conradt, and is credited in seven episodes. He is now a news anchor and comedian.
Other character inventions in the movie include the show's producer Andie Bender, (played by Merrit Wever). In real-life, David Corvo was the lead producer.
In addition, the Rockwall County chief of police in the film is called Cortland Gunn (played by Bookem Woodbine), but in real life, he was called Billy Myrick.
What happened to Chris Hansen and where is he now?
Chris Hansen. Credit: Mireya Acierto / Getty Images
Hansen is continuing his work on media platform TruBlu, which hosts the show Takedown with Chris Hansen.
He previously told Variety of his exit from NBC: "I had opportunities to go do different things and explore other possibilities. That journey led me to essentially have my own network and my own platforms with three generations of followers, viewers and listeners."
He also hosts two podcasts, titled Predators Uncaught, in which Hansen revisits his most notorious stings, and Have a Seat with Chris Hansen, which breaks down old episodes and investigates new cases of online misconduct.
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He has been vocal in criticising Primetime, previously telling Bakersfield Now: "It's a cheap, dark, twisted take on something that has had an amazing impact on society.
"They're trying to switch the narrative to create some sort of feelings for the predators who are trying to exploit children, as opposed to the people who try to expose them and protect children. And there's something very twisted about that."
Primetime is out now in UK cinemas.
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Authors
Molly MossTrends Writer
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
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