Chris Hansen

      

Christopher Edward Hansen (born: September 13, 1959 (1959-09-13) [age 61]), is an American television journalist and YouTube personality. He is known for his work on Dateline NBC, in particular the former segment To Catch a Predator, which revolved around catching potential Internet sex predators using a sting operation. He also hosts Killer Instinct on Investigation Discovery, which documents homicide investigations. In September 2016, he became the new host of the syndicated show Crime Watch Daily.

Early life and education

Hansen was born on September 13, 1959 in Chicago. Hansen grew up in West Bloomfield Township and Birmingham, Michigan. Hansen attended Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In an interview with City Pulse, Hansen has said that watching the FBI and police investigate the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa when he was fourteen inspired him to want to become a journalist. He graduated from the Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in Telecommunication.

Career with NBC (1981–2013)

He became a reporter for Lansing NBC affiliate WILX in 1981 during his senior year at Michigan State University. He then reported for WFLA in Tampa, various radio stations and newspapers in Michigan, WXYZ in Detroit, and WDIV-TV as an investigative reporter and anchor from 1988. In May 1993, Hansen joined NBC News as a correspondent for the short-lived news magazine Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric.

Dateline NBC

Hansen's notable work for Dateline includes coverage of the Columbine High School massacre, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Unabomber and the TWA Flight 800 disaster, and investigative reports on Indian child slave labor and counterfeit prescription drug sales in China. Hansen was responsible for most of Dateline's coverage of the September 11 attacks, as well as stories on terrorist groups and the operations of Al-Qaeda. He also exposed how a group linked to Osama Bin Laden had tried to buy missiles and nuclear weapons components, and he also worked on an exclusive report on the Air France Flight 8969 hijacking. His series on the lack of security at airports resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration opening an investigation and ultimately revising its policies.

To Catch a Predator

In conjunction with the website Perverted-Justice, Hansen hosted a series of Dateline NBC reports under the title To Catch a Predator. Volunteers from Perverted-Justice impersonated underage people (usually 13–15) in chat rooms online and agreed to meet with adults for sex. The meeting places were "sting houses", where camera crews from NBC, and in later episodes local police, awaited the potential sexual predator.

Capitalizing on the success of Hansen and his Predator investigations, Dateline NBC created three Tuesday night spin-offs of its original concept; Hansen hosted To Catch a Con Man and To Catch an I.D. Thief. In March 2007, Hansen's book, To Catch a Predator: Protecting Your Kids from Online Enemies Already in Your Home, was released in the American market.

Killer Instinct

In February 2015, Hansen announced that he would be the host of a new show on Investigation Discovery to be titled Killer Instinct that chronicled homicide cases. The show's initial 10-episode season premiered on August 17, 2015.

Appearances

Hansen has appeared on such television programs as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Adam Carolla Show, Today, Scarborough Country, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Rise Guys Morning Show, The Don and Mike Show, The Opie and Anthony Radio Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Glenn Beck Program, and Diggnation.

On January 9, 2007, Hansen appeared on the BET news series American Gangster. The special, which was hosted by actor Ving Rhames, focused on Detroit drug lords, the Chambers Brothers gang. Hansen gave insight into the lives of the brothers based on the reporting he had done on them in the 1980s and 1990s as a reporter for ABC affiliate WXYZ (Channel 7) and NBC affiliate WDIV (Channel 4).

Post-NBC projects

Hansen vs. Predator

In 2015, Hansen announced plans to release a new independent television show called Hansen vs. Predator, a spin-off of his original show To Catch a Predator. The program was intended to premiere online, crowdfunded via Kickstarter. However, Hansen was unable to reach his $400,000 goal, only raising $89,000 by September 2016. Hansen offered promotional memorabilia as part of the campaign that donors claimed to have never received, and he was arrested in January 2019 for paying for $13,000 worth of promotional items with a bad check. After Hansen was unable to reach his Kickstarter goal broadcast rights were sold, with Hansen vs. Predator becoming a recurring segment on Crime Watch Daily.

Crime Watch Daily

On August 22, 2016, it was announced that Hansen would become the new host of the syndicated news program Crime Watch Daily beginning with its second-season premiere on September 12. Hansen anchors the program from New York City, but it will maintain its Los Angeles-based newsroom. The second season also saw the premiere of Hansen vs. Predator, a revival of his previous To Catch a Predator series. Hansen's entry brought further ratings gains to the program, with household ratings increasing by 20% to 1.0, and a 23% gain among women 18–34. On January 4, 2017, Crime Watch Daily was renewed for a third season. The show ended its run in June 2018. Chris Hansen debuted the first episode of Hansen vs Predator on Monday, September 12, 2016, on Crime Watch Daily.

Have a Seat with Chris Hansen

On October 9, 2019, Hansen started a YouTube channel under the name Have a Seat with Chris Hansen, wherein he uploads weekly podcasts tackling different topics and interviews with special guests. In 2019, this channel investigated claims of pedophilia and grooming against fellow YouTuber Onision. In January 2020, Hansen visited Onision's home in an attempt to interview him. Onision called the police on Hansen, though the police did not take action against him. Onision has also filed a lawsuit against Hansen, which took place on January 24, 2020. However, it turned out Onision had served the wrong Chris Hansen and had requested to dismiss because he was advised to consider an "alternative, more effective legal action". This dismissal request was granted. On March 17, 2020 at 8:00 pm, Hansen went live and talked about the coronavirus pandemic with doctors Suraj Saggar and Maurizio Miglietta, mostly talking about the causes from China like the restaurant in Wuhan and the virus itself.

Personal life

He is married to his wife Mary Joan and has two sons. It was reported that in June 2018, Mary Joan filed for divorce after nearly 30 years of marriage. The family resides in Connecticut. He also maintains an apartment in New York City. However, it was reported that he was evicted in January for failing to pay rent, with it being shown the last time Hansen paid rent was in August 2018. His mother, Patricia Hansen, passed away on March 1, 2020.

In January 2019, Hansen was charged with larceny after a check bounced with a vendor who delivered promotional items. Hansen turned himself in to police in Connecticut on January 14, 2019, for allegedly bouncing checks for nearly $13,000 worth of promotional materials, according to Stamford Police. The charges were later dropped.

On February 28th, 2020, Hansen was charged with harassment by a "civilian" who, according to court documents, said the incident occurred on February 5th. He has not yet entered a plea and is due in court on March 24th.

Awards

Hansen has received eight Emmy Awards, four Edward R. Murrow Awards, three Clarion awards, the Overseas Press Club award, an IRE, the National Press Club award, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Award; as well as awards for excellence from the Associated Press and United Press International.

This page uses Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported-licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).