ALLEGEDLY*
THE MORGUECASE CLOSEDSeptember 3, 2026
▶ PLAY THIS CASE BLIND Loads the redacted lede with the answer hidden. Three strikes, same as the day it ran.

Case No. 40: Christian Bale

In 2009 four minutes of audio leaked from a film set, on which this intensely committed leading man tore into a crew member for wandering into his eyeline mid-take. The tirade had been remixed into dance tracks within the week.

The full story

In February 2009, audio leaked of Christian Bale berating director of photography Shane Hurlbut on the set of Terminator Salvation for walking into his eyeline during a take. Bale apologised publicly on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ days later, saying he had been out of order. The recording was widely remixed and became a meme.

The clues we handed out

— He apologised on Los Angeles radio days later, said he had been out of order, and offered no excuse for it.

— He is known for violent body transformations — skeletal for one role, then bulked up for the next.

— He wore the cape and cowl in a trilogy that finished in 2012.

— Welsh, and he got his break at thirteen in a Spielberg war film set in Shanghai.

— Initials: C.B.

How this case played

ALLEGEDLY* edition No. 40. Three strikes to name Christian Bale, with a free clue unlocked after every miss.

The jury's verdict

Every case that closes goes to the jury. Players who finished this edition were asked: Has enough time passed to let it go?

8 verdicts have been filed. 88% would let it go. 12% say not yet. Close to unanimous.

See how the jury ruled on every closed case →

More closed cases from the Film desk

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Every closed case from the Film desk →

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*A blind item you can check. Every puzzle is drawn from the public record — court records, official rulings, and moments that unfolded on live television — and the records are linked above. Allegedly.
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