‘Romeo and Juliet’ Stars Sue Paramount and Criterion Over Nude Scene

Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey (L) in the title roles of Franco Zeffirelli's film version of Shakespeare's 'Romeo And Juliet' in 1967. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, stars of the 1968 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s famous romantic tragedy play “Romeo and Juliet,” are suing Paramount Pictures and The Criterion Collection, a home-video distribution company, over the alleged “digitally enhanced” 2023 re-release of the film, Us Weekly reported.

The point of contention stems from a brief nude scene acted out by Mr. Whiting and Ms. Hussey—who played the film’s titular characters when they were 16 and 15, respectively.

Ms. Hussey, 72, and Mr. Whiting, 73, filed their lawsuit against Paramount and Criterion with the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Feb. 14. In the court filings—made available on a website the actors created that details their allegations—they allege nude images of the pair that were pulled from the scene were unlawfully distributed with the re-release of the film, which was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, who passed away in 2019.

According to the claim, the digital release featured “computer created” and “digitally enhanced photographs” of Ms. Hussey and Mr. Whiting lying in bed together unclothed, depicting the former’s bare breasts and the latter’s bare buttocks.

In their joint statement, the actors criticized Paramount for not taking “responsibility for their production in the digital enhancement, production and distribution” of the film. They also claimed the photos included in the reproduction “were fraudulently and surreptitiously taken of the most private areas” of their nude bodies without their permission.

“Now they have released the entire film accentuating our already naked bodies by ways that are available to them now,” Ms. Hussey told Fox News Digital. “It was a horrible situation to be put in then, and now it’s visually even more disturbing and horrific for us at that age to be portrayed in such a salacious way.”

“What Paramount and Criterion have now done is publicly release a version of the film that technically enhances the film but, to my shock and dismay, also enhances my ‘underage’ nude body and that entire bedroom scene, including Leonard’s body, in something one may see in pornographic photos, magazines or films,” she continued.

Ms. Hussey and Mr. Whiting are asking the courts for a preliminary and permanent injunction barring the digital release from being distributed with the inclusion of the digital photos. They are also seeking compensation for “emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, and mental anguish.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Paramount Pictures and The Criterion Collection, but did not receive responses before the time of publication.

Leonard Whiting (L) and Olivia Hussey attend the 50th Anniversary World Premiere Restoration of 'The Producers' presented as the Opening Night Gala of the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival at the TCL Chinese theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on April 26, 2018. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Legal Battle Over Nude Scene

The lawsuit against Paramount marks the second time Ms. Hussey and Mr. Whiting have sued the company. CNBC previously reported that in December 2022, the actors filed a $500 million lawsuit against Paramount, alleging they were sexually exploited and harassed, claiming the nude scene was “essentially pornography” involving minors.

In the court documents detailing the filing, the actors allege that they were “secretly filmed ... without their knowledge.” They claimed Mr. Zeffirelli had originally told them there would be “no nudity filmed or exhibited,” and that they “would be wearing flesh colored undergarments during the bedroom/love scene.”

The filing reads: “However, on the morning of the shoot of the bedroom scene ... the minor children Plaintiffs were given body make-up and were told by Mr. Zeffirelli that they must act in the nude or the Picture would fail.”

The actors also alleged the director told them “they would never work again in any profession, let alone Hollywood.”

In response, the late director’s son, Pippo Zeffirelli, released a statement saying the nude scene was “far from pornographic,” per The Guardian.

He said, “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.”

Both Ms. Hussey and Mr. Whiting took home “New Star of the Year” awards at the 1969 Golden Globes for their performances in the film.

The case was ultimately dismissed in May 2023 after Superior Court Judge Alison Mackenzie determined the scene was protected under the First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” per Congress.gov.

“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,” the judge shared in a statement, per Entertainment Weekly.

She continued: “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.”