Kate Beckinsale sues ‘Canary Black’ producers over “severe injuries” due to “unsafe conditions”
Actor Kate Beckinsale is suing the producers of the 2024 action film Canary Black for “unsafe” and dangerous conditions, as well as “severe and debilitating injuries.”
The English star accused Anton Entertainment production company and producer John Zois of negligence, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The complaint was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
According to The Independent, the lawsuit alleges that Beckinsale and her team “repeatedly raised red flags regarding unsafe conditions on and off set.”
The red flags were in reaction to “long, dangerous set days, often lasting fifteen hours, inadequate equipment and medical personnel to help manage the high physical workload and recover from the exertion off set, and failure to adequately inform Ms Beckinsale of what stunts she was expected to perform until often the moment she had to perform it.”
Allegedly, due to this environment, on or around December 15th 2022, Beckinsale suffered a “complex meniscus tear in her left knee.” This injury only worsened when the producers allegedly ignored doctors’ orders, clearly stating that she should not participate in stunt work.
Beckinsale claims to have raised this issue multiple times during filming and says she wrote to the producer several times. A snippet from these letters reads: “Not really knowing what is coming up and performing it for the first time off guard, on camera and under a time crunch are just loading the dice for unnecessary injury… Speaking last night to a few actors and actresses I know in my position, no one has ever been told something was green screen and found out day of a portion of it was practical… What I am suggesting is merely what has been absolutely standard on every movie I have appeared in before.”
Zois admitted at the time that the days were “too packed” for the pace they were moving; “it’s clearly not sustainable,” he wrote at the time.
Beckinsale has previously spoken out about difficult experiences she has had on set. “I was 18 and felt up by somebody that I really trusted on a crew,” she revealed in 2024. “I went to the lead actress who was known for being a supporter of women,” she continued, “And said, ‘This is happening,’ and was told, ‘No, it didn’t.’ I went to another actress and said I’d just been assaulted by this man and told, ‘No, you haven’t been.’” She also said: “This has been going on forever. I have 47 million stories similar to this.”
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