Michael Bay attacked on set of Transformers: Age of Extinction UPDATE #2

A further update to todays events. This time, direct from Michael Bay himself.

Hi, it’s Michael.

Yes, the story is being passed around is not all true! Yes, some drugged up guys were being belligerent asses to my crew for hours in the morning of our first shoot day in Hong Kong. One guy rolled metal carts into some of my actors trying to shake us down for thousands of dollars to not play his loud music or hit us with bricks.

Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount. I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn’t like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That’s when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z—he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved.

Then it took fifteen Hong Kong cops in riot gear to deal with these punks. In all, four guys were arrested for assaulting the officers.

After that, we had a great day shooting here in Hong Kong.

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While most Transformers fans, not happy with the direction Michael Bay has taken their beloved franchise, would gladly lay their hands on the director, it seems that they have been beaten to it, with reports that Bay was injured in an attack on the set of his latest giant robot/normal sized vehicle adventure in Hing Kong. Two local men, reportedly brothers, approached the director, demanding the sum of $12,900. Bay, of course, refused, causing the eldest of the pair to attack him and three police officers who attempted to intervene. Both men were arrested on suspicion of blackmail and assault. Bay sustained some injuries to the face, not serious enough to result in a visit to the hospital. He returned to filming after the incident had been resolved.

via THR

UPDATE

Paramount have released the following statement, clarifying the incident. It involves a man wielding an air conditioning unit as a weapon, which makes this story a hundred times cooler:

"Contrary to several erroneous news reports, Bay did not get hurt in a fight on his set. The production company did have a rather bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance) who was wielding an air conditioning unit as his weapon of choice.

"The young man, who had earlier accosted several other crew members, barreled onto the set in Quarry Bay and swung the cumbersome appliance directly at Bay's head. The director ducked and wrested the air conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident. The company's security team quickly stepped in and subdued the assault. The police, who also scuffled with the assailant and two of his companions, ultimately arrested the three men. No one on the cast or crew was injured and the production immediately resumed filming without further incident."