A lawsuit over a naked scene in the 1968 movie Romeo and Juliet is safeguarded by the First Amendment, a judge has actually ruled. In January, it had actually been reported that the stars of the motion picture, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, submitted a lawsuit versus Paramount due to the fact that of a scene that included the 2 of them naked in a bed room together. At the time of recording, Hussey was 15 and Whiting was 16, and they argued in their lawsuit that they could not have lawfully granted appearing naked on movie. The problem declared that director Franco Zeffirelli and the studio had actually persuaded the teenager stars into recording the scene, and for psychological distress and unfavorable effects to their professions, the 2 desired no less than $500 million.


On Thursday, per Variety, it was reported that Judge Alison Mackenzie has actually approved Paramount’s movement to dismiss the lawsuit. The studio had actually looked for to have the fit tossed under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. The judge likewise ruled that the movie is safeguarded by the First Amendment and that the statute of constraints uses to the claims of kid sex abuse.

“Plaintiffs have not put forth any authority showing the film here can be deemed to be sufficiently sexually suggestive as a matter of law to be held to be conclusively illegal,” Mackenzie stated. “Plaintiffs’ argument on the subject is limited to cherry-picked language from federal and state statutes without offering any authority regarding the interpretation or application of those statutory provisions to purported works of artistic merit, such as the award-winning film at issue here.”

The legal fight might not be over yet. Attorney Solomon Gresen, speaking on behalf of Hussey and Whiting, stated that the strategy is to submit a different lawsuit in federal court. Instead of concentrating on the initial theatrical release in 1968, this brand-new lawsuit will indicate the current release of the movie on a Criterion Collection DVD. Because the release includes a brand-new 4K repair of Romeo and Juliet, Gresen states this would reboot the statute of constraints.

“Children cannot grant utilize of these images… They’re benefiting off these images without authorization,” the legal representative stated.


While director Franco Zeffirelli has actually given that died, the filmmaker’s kid, Pippo Zeffirelli, was extremely vital of the lawsuit. After it was submitted, the more youthful Zeffirelli stated that the questionable scene was “far from pornographic,” keeping in mind how his daddy had actually spoken up versus porn frequently when he was around.

“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,” he told the Guardian. “These were very young naive children in the ’60s who had no understanding of what was about to hit them. All of a sudden they were famous at a level they never expected, and in addition they were violated in a way they didn’t know how to deal with.”

The motion picture was a success when it was very first launched. With a spending plan of around $850,000, it had actually earned almost $39 million. Hussey and Whiting would likewise both win Golden Globes for their efficiencies in the movie, while Zeffirelli and the movie were likewise respectively chosen for Best Director and Best Picture at the Academy Awards.