An American judge responded to a lawsuit filed by two actors who played Romeo and Juliet in the 1968 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli against Paramount Pictures, because they appeared in a scene naked without their consent.
The two actors, now in their seventies, filed a lawsuit in California last December, accusing Paramount Pictures, the film’s producer, of sexually exploiting them when they were minors, by showing an intimate scene showing naked parts of their bodies, according to AFP.
And a judge in Los Angeles decided to dismiss the lawsuit, and ruled in favor of the company, after she considered that the scene in question did not constitute “exploitation of children in pornography.” The judge also considered that the film is covered by provisions protecting freedom of expression.
In the verdict, the judge noted that the plaintiffs did not present evidence proving that the film could be considered sexually suggestive enough to assert that it was illegal. The specialized magazine indicated that Hussey defended the scene complained of during the 2018 interview, and considered at the time that Zeffirelli portrayed it in an appropriate manner, and said that it was “necessary for the film.”
However, the actors stated in the lawsuit that the Italian director, who died in 2019, insisted insistently on filming this scene and stressed that the work would “fail” without it, while the scene was supposed to be filmed in underwear of a color similar to the color of the skin.
The lawsuit stated that the two actors faced anxiety and emotional turmoil for more than five decades after the release of the film, and they are seeking compensation amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. Their agent expressed his “strong” protest against the judge’s decision, declaring his intention to challenge it before the federal court. He stressed the need to “confront the exploitation and sexualization of minors in the film industry and address it legally.”
