Two actors from 1968 ‘Romeo and Juliet’ sue Paramount claiming they were ‘misled’ into nudity scene and never agreed for it to be redistributed for 50 years
The leads of 1968’s Romeo and Juliet have filed another lawsuit against studios, claiming they never agreed to the redistribution of their nude scenes.
Olivia Hussey, 72, and Leonard Whiting, 73, filed a new lawsuit yesterday against Paramount Pictures and home distribution company Criterion Collections.
The British actors have accused the studios of unlawfully distributing nude photos of them, which appear in Criterion’s digital release of director Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of Shakespeare’s play.
The couple said they had never consented to their nude scenes being redistributed in any format.
The pair previously filed a lawsuit in Santa Monica Superior Court in California, accusing Paramount Pictures of sexual harassment, fraud, sexual abuse and intentional infliction of emotional distress in January 2023.
Olivia Hussey, 72, and Leonard Whiting, 73, filed a new lawsuit yesterday against Paramount Pictures and home distribution company Criterion Collections (pictured in 2018)
The British actors have accused the studios of unlawfully distributing nude photos of them – which appear in Criterion’s digital release of director Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of Shakespeare’s play
The 2024 lawsuit states that Hussey and Whiting are suing for “unlawful distribution of intimate photographs, unlawful use of likeness, and violation of artists’ rights.”
The photos cited in this suit are from the scene featuring Hussey, then 15, and Whiting, then 16, naked in a bedroom as the titular star-crossed lovers.
The duo claims that after high-definition viewing of the film according to the Criterion for digital release, Hussey’s naked breasts and Whiting’s naked backside have now become fully visible in the film, something that was not as apparent in the original version of the film.
Hussey and Whiting have claimed that the scenes in the digital release are “lewd, lascivious and degrading to them.”
The photos mentioned in this suit are from the scene featuring Hussey, then 15, and Whiting, then 16, naked in a bedroom as the titular star-crossed lovers
The court documents read: ‘The Digital Release included computer-generated digitally enhanced photographs of Whiting and Hussey lying naked together in a bed, simulating a newlywed couple luxuriating after a session of marital coitus. It also contained computer-generated, digitally enhanced photographs of the halos and nipples on Hussey’s naked breasts.
‘The digital photographs, among other things, reproduced in extremely high definition the contents of several color analogue photographs taken in the private studio in the presence of only key photography personnel, while Hussey and Whiting were minors during the production of the original project. with Hussey’s completely naked breasts and Whiting’s completely naked buttocks.’
‘When Whiting and Hussey first viewed the Digital Release, following the dismissal of the lawsuit and the ruling on that dismissal, they were made aware that the darkened representation of their naked buttocks and breasts in the publicly distributed copies of the Original Work was digitally enhanced to such an extent that, unlike the Original Work, the Digital Release depicted their private areas in such detail that the unnecessary display was lewd, lascivious and degrading to them.
“Neither Hussey nor Whiting ever consented to or acquiesced in the creation, publication or distribution of the digital photographs contained in the digital release.”
The duo claims that after high-definition viewing of the film according to the Criterion for digital release, Hussey’s naked breasts and Whiting’s naked backside have now become fully visible in the film, something that was not as apparent in the original version of the film.
Hussey and Whiting have claimed that the scenes in the digital release are “lewd, lascivious and degrading to them.”
Hussey and Whiting are seeking damages “based on evidence sufficient to compensate Hussey and Whiting for their economic and general damages,” as well as a permanent ban on distribution of the digital release
Hussey and Whiting had claimed in the lawsuit last year that Zeffirelli had originally told them there would be no nudity in the film.
However, on the last day of filming, they said Zeffirelli claimed the film would “fail” unless they performed a scene naked while wearing body makeup.
In May 2023, their initial lawsuit was dismissed by High Court Judge Alison Mackenzie.
In a recently released joint statement, both actors said, “We and our new attorneys have extended the olive branch to Paramount in hopes that they would settle this legal matter, but unfortunately it appears they do not want to take responsibility for their case. participation in the digital enhancement, production and distribution of the 1968 film, nor in the photographs contained in that reproduction which were fraudulently and surreptitiously taken.”
Hussey and Whiting are seeking damages “based on evidence sufficient to compensate Hussey and Whiting for their economic and general damages,” as well as a permanent ban on distribution of the digital release.
A court date for the new trial has not yet been set.