Romeo and Juliet’ Stars Sue Paramount for Child Abuse Over Nude Scene in 1968 Film
When they ignited audiences in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were just teens. The movie was a success and received four Academy Award nominations, but controversy erupted over a bedroom scene that showed Hussey’s bare breasts and Whiting’s buttocks.
Hussey and Whiting, who are now in their 70s, filed a complaint against Paramount on Friday, accusing the studio of sexually abusing them and disseminating nude pictures of young children.
According to the lawsuit, the late director Zeffirelli promised both actors that there would be no nudity in the movie and that they would wear flesh-colored underwear in the bedroom scene. Zeffirelli passed away in 2019. However, the director allegedly begged them to act naked with body makeup in the final days of production, “otherwise the picture would fail.”
Whiting was 16 years old and Hussey was 15 at the time. The complaint claims that Zeffirelli showed them where the camera would be placed and reassured them that no nudity would be captured on camera or shown in the movie. The lawsuit claims that he was lying and that Hussey and Whiting were secretly filmed in their underwear.
According to Tony Marinozzi, the business manager for both actors, “What they were told and what transpired were two different things.” They had faith in Franco. At age 16, they followed his example and trusted that he wouldn’t betray their confidence. They were friends with Franco, and at age 16, what are they supposed to do? There aren’t any choices. #MeToo didn’t exist.