Judge Again Dismisses "Romeo and Juliet" Lawsuit Over Underage Nude Scene
Judge Again Dismisses 'Romeo and Juliet' Lawsuit Over Underage Nude Scene https://t.co/RdIYvyUkMH
- Variety (@Variety) October 21, 2024
Follow up to the previous posts about this: 1 2
In her ruling, Fujie noted that the producers had contracts with both actors, indicating that they consented to participate in the film.
“Even in the absence of express consent, however, Plaintiffs’ subsequent conduct in the decades that followed since the Film’s original 1968 release speaks to Plaintiffs’ implied ratification and approval of the Film, including the Bedroom Scene,” the judge wrote. “This includes, among others, appearances and statements made by Plaintiffs during interviews and attendance at film festivals, during which Plaintiffs did not object to the continuing release and distribution of the successive releases of the Film.”
In an interview with Variety in 2023, Hussey said that she and Whiting were each paid £1,500, or about $2,200, and that was all they ever received. Their acting careers fizzled after that.
“Everyone says, ‘You must be so well off - you were in a classic,'” she said. “And we say, ‘No, we didn’t get paid for that.’ We got minimum. We were always broke. I felt exploited, really. Looking back on all of that, Leonard and I, we felt exploited throughout.”
Hussey and Whiting defended the film - and the controversial nude scene - in interviews for years afterwards. But she told Variety she was putting up a front about it, and that it was traumatizing.
“We’d say, ‘Oh, it was art. Everybody does nudity - no big deal,'” she said. “But really, deep down, my mom knew and my close friends knew it was traumatic. It wasn’t something I ever agreed to do. I just did it because I felt like I couldn’t say no. Leonard too.”
Hussey’s mother was not on set, and she only found out about the nude scene after the film was completed, Hussey said.
Whiting told Variety in 2023 that he was “not mentally prepared” to film in the nude, and that he found the experience “very uncomfortable.”
“I believe the scene didn’t require nudity, due to the fact that we were both underage,” he said. “Olivia was very, very nervous and frightened as well, but we really were very fond of each other and we helped each other get through the whole thing.”
SRC