SUCH SWEET SORROW

Director’s Son Hits Back at ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Stars Over Nudity Lawsuit

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were just 15 and 16, respectively, when the nude bedroom scene was filmed.

The son of famed late Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli spoke out against a lawsuit brought forward last month by Romeo and Juliet starlets Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, claiming sexual exploitation by Paramount Studios over a nude scene in the iconic Shakespearean adaptation. The actors, now in their early seventies, were just 15 and 16 at the time of filming—when Zeffirelli allegedly told them to perform a bedroom scene nude as opposed to in the flesh-colored bodysuits that had been promised. “Zeffirelli himself was accused of being reactionary precisely because, over and over again, he spoke out against pornography,” Pippo Zeffirelli, his son, said in a statement on Sunday, pointing out that Hussey had continued to work with the director after the fact. He also added that Whiting attended his funeral in 2019. “It is embarrassing to hear that today, 55 years after filming, two elderly actors who owe their notoriety essentially to this film wake up to declare that they have suffered an abuse that has caused them years of anxiety and emotional discomfort.” The actors are seeking damages in excess of $500 million.