Movies

Sex abuse claims brought against Paramount in $100 million Romeo and Juliet lawsuit – Deadline

January 4, 2023

Almost 55 years after Franco Zeffirelli’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of Romeo and Juliet is out, the film’s young stars of the era are now suing Paramount Pictures for more than $100 million for alleged sexual abuse, neglect and more.

“The defendants were dishonest and covertly filmed the nude or partially nude minor children without their knowledge, in violation of state and federal laws governing the sexual abuse and exploitation of said children,” Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting say. “The plaintiffs suffered and will continue to suffer extreme and severe physical and mental pain, mental anguish and emotional distress,” says the lawsuit (read it here) for the Best Picture Oscar-nominated film based on the classic tale of doomed lovers by William Shakespeare. to say.

In a Shakespearean drama of their own that estimates the studio earned over $500 million from Zeffirelli’s adaptation, Hussey and Whiting are seeking punitive and exemplary damages of over $100 million. With Encino, Calif.-based attorney Solomon Gresen handling their case, the duo are also considering “compensatory, economic, and non-economic damages based on the evidence, as well as economic benefit reimbursements for Paramount”.

Seemingly confusing a date of December 1967 for 1968, the year the film was released, the file details of December 30, 2022:

At the time of filming, Mr. Whiting (Romeo) was a 16-year-old underage child and Ms. Hussey was also a 15-year-old underage child. The Complainants were informed by Mr. Zeffirelli that there would be no nudity filmed or exhibited and that the Complainants would wear flesh-colored underwear during the bedroom/love scene. However, on the morning of the bedroom scene being filmed in the second week of December 1968, the very last days of the photograph, the plaintiffs’ minor children were made up and told by Mr. Zeffirelli that they had to act naked. or the image would fail. Millions have been invested. They would never work in any profession again, let alone Hollywood. Zeffirelli showed them where the cameras would be set so that no nudity was filmed or photographed for use in Romeo and Juliet or anywhere else. The plaintiffs believed they had no choice but to act naked with body makeup as required on the final days of filming.

Paramount did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on the seven-claim lawsuit.

Having been the subject of sexual harassment and sexual assault claims in the past, Zeffirelli died in 2019 and is therefore not a defendant in this action.

Making a splash at the time for nudity in film, Romeo and Juliet was a box office hit when it was released in March 1968. Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, the film won trophies for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. Both Whiting and Hussey have won Golden Globes for their performances.

As recently as 2018, Hussey spoke about the need for nudity in film. Amid publicity for her newly released memoir, she told Fox News that nudity “wasn’t that bad.” the jesus of nazareth The veteran also noted in another interview the same year that even though she and Whiting were young, they were both acting veterans and “we were very aware of that.”

Clearly, she and Whiting now have a different take on the matter.

“It took a lot of courage for Olivia and Leonard to address the sexploitation/sexualization (of minors) that happened then, and unfortunately continues to permeate our society today,” said the duo’s manager, Tony Marinozzi, to Deadline today about the lawsuit. “The #MeToo movement and other similar support groups have provided a platform for Olivia and Leonard to finally hold those accountable for these abuses.”

Marinozzi has been the 71-year-old Hussey’s manager since October 2020 and has worked with Whiting, now 72, since February 2022.

The timing of the filing late last week in Los Angeles Superior Court came just hours before the December 31 expiration of the nearly three-year extension of California’s waiver of the statute of limitations. for child sexual abuse complaints.