Kate Beckinsale Sues 'Canary Black' Producers for Negligence & Battery, Alleging She Was Exposed to 'Dangerous and Unsafe Conditions' on Set
Kate Beckinsale is suing the producers of her 2024 Prime Video movie Canary Black.
Back on May 21, the 41-year-old actress filed an amended complaint in the Los Angeles Superior Court where she accused Anton Entertainment and producer John Zois of negligence, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Kate alleges that she “was repeatedly exposed to unsafe and dangerous conditions” while filming the action thriller from late 2022 to early 2023, and as a result, suffered “severe and debilitating injuries, including significant trauma to her left knee,” according to People.
Keep reading to find out more…Back in October 2024, Kate shared photos of the injuries she suffered while filming the movie.
The complaint alleges that Kate and her team “repeatedly raised red flags regarding unsafe conditions on and off set to Defendants, including 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.”
She also alleges that producers ignored the red flags and “continued to recklessly and intentionally forge ahead with unsafe filming conditions, forgoing safety to maintain profit margins, and in the process, put [her] in harm’s way.”
Originally, Kate filmed the complaint in December 2024 under the name Jane Doe. The amended complaint filing now reveals emails between her team and the Canary Black producers as well as additional information about her injuries, which included a complex meniscus tear in her left knee while filming in December 2022.
She then needed surgery, which subsequently paused production for several months.
Before returning to set, Kate claims that her orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jason Snibbe, said she should not be asked to perform stunts that involved running, jumping, harness suspension, squatting or kicking, according to the complaint. However, the surgeon’s requests were allegedly ignored.
The complaint goes on to claim that Kate suffered further aggravation of the knee injury, as her doctor’s orders were repeatedly ignored, and she was allegedly coerced into performing more “unsafe action sequences.”
“No one is actually taking real action to put a plan in place to fix this situation so it never happens again… [Beckinsale] keeps showing up to set for her call time and everyone around her has been made aware it’s going to be a 15 hour [or more] day except for her,” Kate’s agent, Shani Rosenzweig, wrote in one email to John Zois.
Her agent demanded swift actions to address the unsafe conditions, adding, “If you’re trying to kill a person, you’re doing a great job.”
John Zois responded, “I don’t know what else to say other than you’re right,” before adding, “we need to shorten these days,” and agreeing that the pace was “not sustainable.”
However, the complaint alleges that “set conditions continued to be dangerous, with production staff routinely pushing [Beckinsale] to shoot for fifteen hour days, and perform dangerous action sequences, without pre-clearing or pre-training.”
As a result of the alleged negligence and “conscious and reckless decisions, Ms. Beckinsale suffered further injury, including aggravation and exacerbation of her existing injuries, which was entirely avoidable,” according to the complaint.
Last year, Kate also revealed she had been hospitalized for several weeks amid physical health issues. She explained the in-depth reason why while responding to body shamers.