A California decide stated she is going to toss a lawsuit over a nude scene in “Romeo and Juliet,” discovering the 1968 movie is protected beneath the First Modification.
Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting — each 72 and the titular stars of the Franco Zeffirelli flick — claimed they had been coerced into performing nude within the movie’s bed room scene whereas minors.
They accused Paramount Photos of sexual exploitation and distribution of nude imagery of youngsters of their December go well with, which sought greater than $500 million in alleged damages.
Decide Alison Mackenzie granted Paramount’s movement to strike the lawsuit Thursday.
Mackenzie rejected Hussey and Whiting’s argument that the nude scene could possibly be thought-about “little one pornography.” The decide additionally discovered the pair didn’t adjust to a 2020 California law that briefly lifted the statute of limitations for little one sexual abuse lawsuits.
Based on courtroom paperwork obtained by The Publish, Mackenzie wrote there was no proof the movie included “sufficiently sexually suggestive as a matter of legislation to be held to be conclusively unlawful.”
Paramount requested to dismiss the go well with beneath the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, which permits defendants to maneuver to strike supposedly meritless complaints that might undermine free speech.
Solomon Gresen, an legal professional for Hussey and Whiting, stated he plans to enchantment the choice.
“I used to be offended,” Gresen informed The Publish on Friday. “I feel that the anti-female bias on this nation is actual, and it’s one thing that I’ve devoted my profession to making an attempt to proper the wrongs.”
He added: “It’s abusive to take pictures of bare kids. It’s abusive to inform them to take their garments off. It’s abusive to distribute these and earn a living.”
Gresen additionally plans to file a federal declare, following the Criterion Collection DVD February re-release of “Romeo and Juliet,” which features a 4K restoration of the movie.
The Publish has contacted Paramount for remark.
The pair stated they had been misled by Zeffirelli, who died in 2019. They claimed he promised there wouldn’t be nudity.
However simply days earlier than wrap, he allegedly urged the 2 to carry out the bed room scene in solely physique make-up, reportedly threatening “the image would fail” if they didn’t agree.
The actors stated of their go well with they “suffered psychological anguish and emotional misery” and misplaced job alternatives.
Hussey and Whiting this month offered the courtroom separate descriptions of their experiences filming the scene, which confirmed a shot of Hussey’s breasts and Whiting’s behind.
Whiting stated he “received beneath the covers with Plaintiff Hussey, climbed on prime of her and we acted like we had been having intercourse.” Hussey made an analogous assertion.
Paramount known as the pair’s statements “fully false,” saying the movie “depicts a totally completely different scene and sequence of occasions.”
Zeffirelli’s son, Pippo, known as the claims “embarrassing” in a January statement.
“It’s embarrassing to listen to that at the moment, 55 years after filming, two aged actors who owe their notoriety primarily to this movie get up to declare that they’ve suffered an abuse that has precipitated them years of tension and emotional discomfort,” he stated.
