Man sues Netflix in Dallas County for using his photo in true-crime documentary

A man is suing Netflix in a Dallas County court, alleging a true-crime documentary on the streaming service took a photo from his Instagram account and used it without permission.

“Wtf? Explain please,” one of Taylor Hazlewood’s friends asked after seeing his face in The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, according to the lawsuit.

Hazlewood, a Kentucky resident, filed the lawsuit Monday, alleging that the film depicts him in a “sinister and defamatory light” and has harmed his reputation by using his photograph. He is seeking more than $1 million in damages.

The film is about a man with whom the lawsuit says Hazlewood has no connection — a hitchhiker named Caleb McGillvary who went viral for a TV interview he gave after intervening in an assault in California in 2013 and was later convicted of murdering a man in New Jersey.

The lawsuit says the documentary twice uses a picture that Hazlewood posted on his Instagram account in which he is posing with a hatchet in homage to his favorite childhood book, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Netflix’s misappropriation of the photo was “pure recklessness,” the lawsuit says.

Toward the end of the movie, the lawsuit says, a voice asks “Is this a guardian angel or a stone-cold killer?” just as Hazlewood’s photo is displayed.

The lawsuit says many friends and colleagues from around the country contacted Hazlewood after seeing his photo in the documentary.

“Are you kidding? Did you not know you were going be in it?” asked one friend, according to the lawsuit. “Its just bad vibes,” said another.

The lawsuit alleges that the use of the photo in the documentary has tarnished Hazlewood’s reputation because some people may assume the worst when they see it.

“The use causes Hazlewood a constant fear of losing future employment or relationships because of people believing he is dangerous or untrustworthy,” the lawsuit says.

Hazlewood’s attorney, Angela Buchanan, is based in Dallas, where the case was filed because “Netflix’s wrongful conduct occurred in all fifty states, including Texas,” the lawsuit says.

Buchanan and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.