Paramount Pictures has been on the verge of a lawsuit regarding the 1986 version of “Romeo and Juliet.” Stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting claimed they were sexually exploited for the love scene in the film. Hussey and Whiting allege that the scene in question — in which Hussy is bare-breasted, and Whiting’s bare behind is visible — amounts to child pornography, as the two were teenagers at the time. The judge assigned to the case is throwing out the lawsuit, on the grounds the scenes in question aren’t “sufficiently sexually suggestive.”
The case itself isn’t as watertight as Hussy and Whiting’s attorney seems to think. Solomon Gresen claims he only needs to prove Paramount Pictures was aware Hussy and Whiting were minors at the time. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alison Mackenzie pressed Gresen on the matter. “You’re saying photos of people under the age of 18 is an illegal act?,” she said. To which Gresen replied that nude photos were all that was needed to confirm it as a crime. But Mackenzie is throwing out the case, stating such images only constitute child pornography if they display “lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area.” Neither of which is in the case in the scene from “Romeo and Juliet.”
Fantastic Filing Failure from the Start
There’s another reason for the dismissal of the case as well. Apparently the procedure for making such a claim hasn’t been performed properly at all. The victims must provide a certificate of merit from a licensed healthcare practitioner. Said practitioner must confirm that there’s a reasonable basis for the victim to believe they were assaulted as a minor. Furthermore, the plaintiff has to refer to themselves anonymously. None of which Gresen did for Hussy and Whiting’s case.
Gresen claims Paramount Pictures can’t use this improper filing against him. MacKenzie states otherwise, obviously, saying Gresen’s “interpretation of [the statute] defies common sense.” And while Gresen plans to refile the case, there seems to be little keeping it afloat in the first place.
