The protagonists of Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are suing the film company Paramount for sexual exploitation

The protagonists of Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are suing the film company Paramount for sexual exploitation
The protagonists of Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are suing the film company Paramount for sexual exploitation

The protagonists of the film Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, have sued the film company Paramount Pictures claiming they were sexually exploited during a nude scene in the film. Romeo and Juliet it was released in 1968 and was filmed when Hussey was 15 and Whiting 16. It was very successful, being nominated for four Academy Awards and winning two (for cinematography and for costume design). However, it also caused a scandal for a scene in which both Whiting’s buttocks and Hussey’s breasts, adolescents at the time, are seen.

Now in their 70s, Hussey and Whiting have accused Paramount of sexual exploitation and disseminating child sexual abuse images, and are seeking compensation estimated at more than $500 million based on the emotional damage they say they have suffered and the opportunities for job they would have lost. In particular, according to the documents filed in the California court, Zeffirelli would have assured both of them that there would be no nudity in the film, but in the final days of filming he would have asked them to shoot the scene naked, «otherwise the film would not have had success”. Zeffirelli also allegedly lied about the type of shots he was shooting and in fact filmed nude scenes without them knowing.

The American Magazine variety writes that the lawsuit was filed on December 30, the day before the expiration of a rule that in California had temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for compensation claims with respect to old cases of sexual abuse of minors. She also noted that in some recent interviews Hussey had defended the film’s nude scene. For now Paramount has not commented on the matter.

 
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