10 Movie Scenes That Led To Massive Lawsuits - Commenter Edition

2. Freeway Chase Gone Wrong - Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon freeway chase
Paramount Pictures

In a tragic accident on the set of 2011's Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, an extra was left with permanent brain damage when a steel cable snapped and smashed through the windshield of her car, striking her in the head.

Gabriella Cedillo was driving her own vehicle, working as an extra while filming the movie's freeway chase scene. The cable was under a lot of tension due to it pulling a stunt car, and eventually, that tension proved too much. Cedillo was quickly airlifted to hospital and underwent emergency surgery, but sadly, she lost about "a third of the top of her head," and couldn't even remember the accident.

Shortly after, Cedillo's family sued Paramount Pictures (and a few other parties) for negligence, demanding $350,000 for the negative impact that the accident would have on her personal life and career prospects.

The case took a while to resolve, but eventually, Cedillo's side came out on top. She was awarded an $18.5 million settlement in May 2012, at which time she was undergoing therapy at an institute in Chicago.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!