Romeo and Juliet Stars Sue 55 Years Later – Zeffirelli Stripped Them While They Were Underage!

The two protagonists of the film “Romeo and Juliet”in 1968, filed a lawsuit seeking more than $500 million over a nude scene when they were still teenagers.

British actress, Olivia Husseythen 15 years old and now 71 years old, and o Leonard Whitingthen 16 years old and now 72 years old, filed the lawsuit against Paramount Picturesalleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud.

Director Franco Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, initially told the two that they would wear underwear for the bedroom scene, which took place in the final days of filming, the suit claims.

However, on the morning of filming, the director told the two then-underage actors that they would only wear body makeup, while still assuring them that the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show them naked, according to the lawsuit.

Unfortunately, nothing the director told them was followed, according to the lawsuit. The actors appeared nude without knowing it, in violation of California and federal laws against public indecency and child exploitation, their lawsuit alleges.

Zeffirelli told them that they would have to act naked, “otherwise the film would fail” and their reputations would suffer a severe blow. The actors “believed they had no choice but to act naked with body makeup, as the director demanded.”

The film, and its song, were huge hits at the time and have since been shown to generations of students studying Shakespeare.

The court filing states that Hussey and Whiting have suffered emotional damage and mental anguish for decades, and that each had careers that did not reflect the film’s success. Paramount Pictures has yet to respond to news of the lawsuit.

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