Paramount Hit With $100M Sexual Abuse Suit By Stars Of 1968‘s ’Romeo & Juliet’ Movie - Deadline

Almost 55 years aft Franco Zeffirelli Oscar-nominated adaptation of Romeo & Juliet came out, the then-young stars of the movie are present suing Paramount Pictures for much than $100 cardinal for alleged intersexual abuse, negligence and more.

“Defendants were dishonest and secretly filmed the nude oregon partially nude insignificant children without their knowledge, successful usurpation of the authorities and national laws regulating said kid intersexual maltreatment and exploitation,” the filing from Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting states. “Plaintiffs person suffered and volition proceed to endure carnal symptom and intelligence symptom on with utmost and terrible intelligence anguish and affectional distress,” the suit (read it here) implicit the Best Picture Oscar-nominated movie based connected William Shakespeare’s classical doomed lovers communicative goes connected to say. 

In a Shakespearean play of their ain and estimating the workplace has made implicit $500 cardinal disconnected the Zeffirelli adaptation, Hussey and Whiting are seeking punitive and exemplary damages of much than $100 million. With Encino CA-based lawyer Solomon Gresen handling their case, the duo is besides looking astatine “compensatory, economical and non-economic damages according to proof, on with disgorgements of the economical payment to Paramount.”  

Seemingly confusing a December 1967 day for 1968, the twelvemonth the movie was released, the December 30, 2022 filing details:  

At the clip of filming, Mr. Whiting (Romeo) was a insignificant kid aged 16 years and Ms. Hussey was besides a insignificant kid aged 15 years. Plaintiffs were told by Mr. Zeffirelli that determination would beryllium nary nudity filmed oregon exhibited and that Plaintiffs would beryllium wearing soma colored undergarments during the bedroom/love scene. However, connected the greeting of the sprout of the chamber country successful the 2nd week of December 1968, the precise past days of photography the insignificant children Plaintiffs were fixed assemblage make-up and were told by Mr. Zeffirelli that they indispensable enactment successful the nude oregon the Picture would fail. Millions were invested. They would ne'er enactment again successful immoderate profession, fto unsocial Hollywood. Zeffirelli showed them were the cameras would beryllium acceptable truthful that nary nudity would beryllium filmed oregon photographed for usage in Romeo & Juliet or anyplace else. Plaintiffs believed they had nary prime to enactment successful the nude with assemblage make-up arsenic demanded connected the past days of filming.

Paramount did not respond to petition for remark from Deadline connected the seven-claim suit.

The taxable of intersexual harassment and intersexual battle claims successful the past, Zeffirelli died successful 2019 and hence is not a suspect successful this action.

Causing a disturbance astatine the clip for the nudity successful the film, Romeo & Juliet was a container bureau smash erstwhile it came retired successful March 1968. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, the movie took location trophies for Best Cinematography and Costume Design. Both Whiting and Hussey won Golden Globes for their performances.

As precocious arsenic 2018, Hussey has spoken astir the request for the nudity successful the film. In the midst of publicity for her then-just published memoir, she told Fox News that the nudity “wasn’t that large of a deal.” The Jesus of Nazareth seasoned besides noted successful different interrogation that aforesaid twelvemonth that though she and Whiting were young, they were some theatre vets and “we were precise aware.”

Obviously, she and Whiting instrumentality a antithetic constituent of presumption connected the contented now.

“It has taken large courageousness for some Olivia and Leonard to code the sexploitation/sexualization (of minors) that occurred then, and unluckily continues to permeate our nine today,” the duo’s manager Tony Marinozzi told Deadline contiguous of the suit. “The #MeToo question and different akin enactment groups person provided a level for Olivia and Leonard to yet clasp those accountable regarding these abuses.”

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

The timing of the filing precocious past week successful Los Angeles Superior Court came specified hours earlier the December 31 expiration of the astir three-year hold of California’s lifting of the statute of limitations for claims of intersexual maltreatment against children.