Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, half a century after their 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” recommenced a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures and Criterion Collections for distributing a nude scene they participated in.
The pair, now in their 70s, first filed the suit alleging the unauthorized dissemination of their youthful naked portrayals from a bedroom sequence. At the heart of their claim, Ms. Hussey and Mr. Whiting accuse the redistribution of the Academy Award-winning movie by Paramount and Criterion as a violation of their rights — specifically concerning explicit images captured when they were teenagers.
According to a report by Entertainment Weekly, the actors argue that the original contract didn’t confer Paramount any rights to reproduce the stills in any format beyond the traditional 35 mm analog film.
They assert that the most recent digital release, in February 2023, contravenes the supposed agreement, particularly highlighting the “digitally enhanced photographs,” which showcase the actors undressed in extreme high-definition clarity.
“Hussey’s and Whiting’s private areas shown in those photographs were arguably obscured by their extremely low resolution of that presentation in the original work,” the lawsuit argues. “Hussey and Whiting acquiesced in the inclusion of the original photos in the original work … because [the two] did not feel that the presentation … so far exceeded [director Franco] Zeffirelli’s undertaking as to be actionable as a breach of that undertaking.”
The legal documents point to specific instances of nudity — with Ms. Hussey’s exposed breasts and Mr. Whiting’s bare buttocks being subjects of contention.
The attempts by Ms. Hussey and Mr. Whiting to seek legal remedies against Paramount Pictures encountered a setback last year when a judge dismissed their lawsuit. The judge ruled that the depiction in the film didn’t equate to child pornography and rendered their claims untimely, as reported by USA Today.
The pair told Entertainment Weekly that they tried to extend an “olive branch” to Paramount but were rejected. “Our fight for accountability will now involve a new lawsuit and a more rigorous effort in the media, which up until this time we had sought to avoid,” they said in a statement. “The facts, evidence and law are all crystal clear in this matter, and we believe that over half a century of mental incarceration for this traumatic event has been quite enough.”
• Staff can be reached at 202-636-3000.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.