Director's Son Slams 'Romeo and Juliet' Stars Over $500 Million Abuse Lawsuit

Movie director Franco Zeffirelli's son, Pippo, has fired back at "Romeo and Juliet" actors Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, who filed a suit alleging that they were abused while filming the 1990s movie.

The foundation showrunner said in a statement that "it was embarrassing" that the duo had filed the suit despite the fame they had enjoyed from featuring in the film.

He also accused the actors of praising the film in the past in several interviews while his father was still alive. Hussey and Whiting's attorney and business manager have both shared statements to support their clients' claims.

Read on to learn more,

Pippo's statement to the press criticized the $500 million lawsuit filed by Whiting and Hussey against Paramount Pictures just before New Year's Eve.

The duo starred in lead roles in the 1969 romantic film directed by Pippo's father, Franco, which garnered critical acclaim and won two Oscars following its release.

"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 "abuse" that has caused them years of anxiety and emotional discomfort," Pippo responded to the claims, per The Guardian.

Pippo's response to Whiting and Hussey's claim of abuse stems from the duo's statement that Franco had deceived them into filming a nude scene using only body paint as cover after initially assuring them that the film would contain no nudity and just modest flesh-colored clothing.

The actors, who were teenagers then, also claimed that portraying the iconic roles cost them several job opportunities, contrary to Pippo's statement.

In his statement, Pippo also seemed to question the turnaround made by the stars after they had previously praised the romantic film in the past in numerous interviews in the years after its premiere.

He continued, "It appears to me that in all these years, they have always maintained a relationship of deep gratitude and friendship towards [my father] Zeffirelli, releasing hundreds of interviews about the happy memory of their very fortunate experience, which was crowned with worldwide success."

Franco's son also threw a subtle diss at Hussey, saying that the actor had gone on to collaborate with his father in the nineties miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth."

He had earlier pointed out that his father was against pornography, dismissing the notion that the nude scenes were added for salacious reasons.

"Zeffirelli himself was accused of being reactionary precisely because, over and over again, he spoke out against pornography," Pippo said. "The nude images in the film express the beauty, the transfer, I would even say the candour of mutual giving and do not contain any morbid feeling."

While Pippo believes that the accusations are unfounded, Hussey and Whiting's attorney, Solomon Gresen, claimed that the late Zeffirelli "violated" his clients.

"These were very young naive children in the '60s who had no understanding of what was about to hit them," he said in an interview, per The Guardian. "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."

Tony Marinozzi, who manages the complainants, also told the publication that the demised director broke the "trust" of his clients.

"What they were told and what went on were two different things," he said. "They trusted Franco. At 16, as actors, they took his lead that he would not violate that trust they had. Franco was their friend, and frankly, at 16, what do they do? There are no options. There was no #MeToo."

Franco had previously made headlines for sexual misconduct following his death in 2019. At the time, The Hollywood Reporter had interviewed actors who attested that the late director had behaved inappropriately toward them.

One actor, Justin Vetrano, alleged that Franco had sexually harassed him, adding that the trauma from the incident made him quit his acting career.

"When I pushed him away, he said I was nobody. I would never be a true artist. As a young actor, I believed what he told me," Vetrano told the publication, per Decider.

Another "Romeo and Juliet" star, Bruce Robinson, alleged that Franco made unwelcome approaches toward him when the movie was being filmed.

He claimed that the filmmaker's actions served as the model for Uncle Monty, a wealthy older guy who frequently and forcefully tries to initiate sex with an unwilling person in his 1987 film "Withnail and I."