Michael Bay Attacked on 'Transformers 4' Hong Kong Set UPDATE: Director NOT Punched in the Face, Assaulted with Air Conditioner by 'Zombie'?

Earlier this week, numerous news websites (including Mstars) reported on filmmaker Michael Bay getting attacked on the set of Transformers 4 in Hong Kong. The original reports claimed that two men demanded money from Bay, punched him in the face and then were arrested. Though interesting, the real story is a bit more complicated and bizarre. According to Bay himself (via a press release on his official website), a man tried to attack him with an air conditioner!

In his statement, Bay says that the earlier reports of him getting punched were not true but that the extortion part was. Apparently some men were being incredibly rude throughout the filming process and even ran carts into actors and asking for more money than what they had been given for the filming. Bay says that they were well compensated for having to deal with the filming, but they wanted more.

At one point a man walked up with an air conditioning unit and tired to slap him. Let's let Bay tell the rest:

Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount. I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn't like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That's when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt's movie World War Z-he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved.

Bay goes on to explain that, after 15 Hong Kong police officers intervened, 4 men were arrested for assaulting officers. Filming continued.

Clearly this was a strange situation, but have Michael Bay himself describe it made it all the more interesting!