Mary Fetchet, Mother of 9/11 Victim, Upset Zero Dark Thirty Used Recording of Sons Voice

Bradley Fetchet, second from the left, was killed on September 11, 2001. He is pictured with his family in this undated photo. (Photo via CBS)

A Connecticut woman whose son died in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center says she’s upset the Oscar-winning movie “Zero Dark Thirty” used a recording of his last words without her permission.

Mary Fetchet of New Canaan told CBS News and the New York Daily News this week that she was shocked the filmmakers didn’t ask if they could use the voicemail her son, Bradley Fetchet, left on her phone while he was on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower.

“Could you imagine going to a film that had a loved one who had died at the hands of terrorists, and hearing the voice of that person and not knowing you were going to hear it?” Fetchet asked the Daily News.

She continued: “I was shocked that I hadn’t been contacted to be asked for my permission to use Brad’s recording. And (the screening we saw) was right around what would have been Brad’s 36th birthday and right around Thanksgiving.”

The movie about the manhunt for Osama bin Laden begins with the voices of 9/11 victims making their last phone calls.

Fetchet appeared with her husband on CBS News:

Fetchet isn’t the only relative of a survivor upset by the film’s introduction.

The brother of a flight attendant killed on American Airline flight 11 said: “We were never given any notification or asked for permission to use Betty’s voice, unlike many documentary companies…We’re asking that they apologize and that they recognize that they used Betty’s voice and Brad’s and others at liberty.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment said in a statement that the filmmakers contacted several relatives of 9/11 victims about using the voice recordings.

The statement read, according to the New York Daily News:

“Zero Dark Thirty was borne out of the tragedy of September 11, a day that left an indelible mark on all Americans, but none more so than those who lost so much on that tragic day. While the film tells the ten year story of how America brought the terrorist behind 9/11 to justice, we recognize that this remains a delicate and painful subject for many…

“That’s why the filmmakers, beginning before the film’s release, initiated contact with a number of family members of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, including some whose voices can be heard on publicly released tapes. We hope that Zero Dark Thirty is, in some small way, a tribute to those forever affected by the events of 9/11 and to those who worked so hard and risked so much to see that justice was done.”

​The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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