If you are of a certain age, chances are you watched the 1968 Paramount Pictures film “Romeo and Juliet” in high school as part of your literature/English classes. Long lauded as the “most accurate” in terms of ages of the star-crossed lovers, the film is suddenly at the forefront of a lawsuit.
Leonard Whiting (Romeo) and Olivia Hussey (Juliet) have filed suit against Paramount, alleging charges of child abuse. This stems from the love scene between the pair, who were aged 16 and 15 at the time. Hussey’s breasts are bared in the scene, as well as Whiting’s derrière.
The lawsuit claims director Franco Zeffirelli (who passed away in 2019) assured both Whiting and Hussey there would be no nudity during the scene, saying they would wear “flesh toned undergarments.” The suit alleges Zeffirelli later told both Whiting and Hussey the picture would “fail” without actual nudity, and filmed them “without their knowledge or consent” for the resulting scene.
“What they were told and what went on were two different things,” Tony Marinozzi, business manager for both actors, said. “They trusted Franco. At 16, as actors, they took his lead that he would not violate that trust they had. Franco was their friend, and frankly, at 16, what do they do? There are no options. There was no #MeToo.”
Hussey defended the scene as recently as a 2018 interview.
The suit is believed to be in the ballpark of $500 million, for “emotional distress” and “lost job opportunities” in the 55 years since the film was released.
Paramount has not responded to the suit or the claims.
