The celebrities of the 1968 film “Romeo & Juliet” have submitted a lawsuit in Los Angeles County accusing Paramount Footage of sexually abusing them by filming their nude our bodies with out their data after they have been kids.
Leonard Whiting, who performed Romeo Montague when he was 16, and Olivia Hussey, who performed Juliet Capulet when she was 15, are suing the studio big for sexual harassment, negligence, intentional tort, fraud, appropriation of title and likeness, intentional infliction of emotional misery, unfair enterprise practices and youngster sexual abuse. The lawsuit, submitted Friday, has but to be formally filed in L.A. Superior Courtroom.
Directed by Italian filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli, the 1968 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” includes a controversial bed room scene wherein Whiting’s naked buttocks and Hussey’s naked breasts are seen.
Per courtroom paperwork reviewed by The Instances, the onscreen lovers declare they have been coerced into filming the sequence nude after Zeffirelli initially assured them that “there can be no nudity filmed or exhibited, and that [they] can be carrying flesh coloured undergarments in the course of the bed room/love scene.”
Whiting and Hussey allege that, on the morning of the bed room shoot, Zeffirelli advised them that “they have to act within the nude or the Image would fail” — including that “tens of millions have been invested” within the undertaking and that “they’d by no means work once more in any career, not to mention Hollywood” in the event that they didn’t comply. The kid actors have been allegedly coated with nude physique make-up and “believed that they had no selection however to behave within the nude … as demanded.”
The criticism additionally notes that Zeffirelli, who died at age 96 in 2019, allegedly confirmed Whiting and Hussey “the place the cameras can be set in order that no nudity can be filmed or photographed to be used in Romeo & Juliet or anyplace else.” The co-stars argue that the studio both knew or “ought to have recognized” that photographs of their nude our bodies “have been secretly and unlawfully obtained … for later use by Paramount and others.”
On account of Zeffirelli’s and Paramount’s alleged transgressions, Whiting and Hussey say they’ve suffered bodily ache, extreme psychological anguish and emotional misery, in addition to “a lifetime loss” of earnings, employment advantages and job alternatives. They’re looking for common, compensatory and punitive financial and noneconomic damages “believed to be in extra” of $500 million.
“Paramount … licensed, condoned and/or ratified the illegal conduct by … repackaging what is actually pornography and proof of against the law after which reselling that toxic product for revenue over the objections of Mr. Whiting and Ms. Hussey since 1968,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The realizing and repeated use of sexual photographs of minor kids is the worst of behaviors in our society and have to be eradicated.”
Leonard Whiting, left, and Olivia Hussey attend a 2018 screening of “The Producers” in Los Angeles.
(Willy Sanjuan / Invision/AP)
“Romeo & Juliet” acquired Academy Award nominations in 1969 for cinematography, costume design, director and finest image. It gained for cinematography and costume design.
The lawsuit cites a California legislation enacted in 2020 that quickly suspended the statute of limitations for youngster sexual abuse. As a result of individuals over the age of 40 are not allowed to sue for youngster sexual abuse in California as of Jan. 1, 2023, the state acquired a deluge of complaints leading up to the Dec. 31, 2022, filing deadline.
Paramount didn’t reply to The Instances’ a number of requests for remark.
Final month, Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins mirrored on performing nude collectively as youngsters within the 1980 movie “The Blue Lagoon.” Shields, who was 14 on the time of filming, remarked {that a} film like Randal Kleiser‘s interval drama would “by no means” be made right now.
“Oh gosh, no,” Atkins agreed on a current episode of Shields’ “Now What?” podcast. “Animals have been harm within the film. We have been spearing fish and all types of loopy issues. Kids are bare operating down a seaside — simply couldn’t try this now.”
Shields additionally recalled carrying “little strips of clothes” or having her hair taped down “to cowl the boobs, which have been very minimal anyway.”
“I don’t know what I used to be making an attempt to cowl,” she quipped as Atkins laughed. “They might stick these little sticky, flesh-colored issues on my nipple — as a result of nipple was evidently the place they drew the road on this film, which is ironic.”
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