A California Superior Court Action Against Paramount Pictures in “Romeo and Juliet” over a Nude Scene That Was Shot During the 1968 Film

The two stars of 1968’s “Romeo and Juliet” sued Paramount Pictures for more than $500 million on Tuesday over a nude scene in the film shot when they were teens.

Olivia Hussey, then 15 and now 71, and Leonard Whiting, then 16 now 72, filed the suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud.

Director Franco Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, initially told the two that they would wear flesh-colored undergarments in the bedroom scene that comes late in the movie and was shot on the final days of filming, the suit alleges.

On the morning of the shoot, Zeffirelli told Whiting, who played Juliet, that he would be wearing body makeup, while still assuring him the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show nudity, according to the suit.

Yet they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge, in violation of California and federal laws against indecency and the exploitation of children, the suit says.

Generations of high school students have seen the movie and theme song, which are major hits at the time.

The lawsuit seeks damages Hussey and Whiting say are believed to be in excess of $500 million. The actors both claim the scene has caused them mental anguish and emotional distress in the 55 years since the film’s release.

The statute of limitations for sex abuse of children is temporarily suspended in California, and this resulted in a host of new lawsuits, and the revival of others that were previously dismissed.

The Associated Press does not normally name people who say they’ve been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Santa Monica Superior Court by stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, accuses Paramount of sexual exploitation and distributing nude images of adolescent children.

The complaint states that the scene in the film that was shown in theaters showed images of both Whiting and Hussey with their bare breasts.

“What they were told and what went on were two different things,” Tony Marinozzi, a business manager for both actors, told Variety. They trusted Franco. At 16, they took his lead and decided that he would not violate their trust. Franco was their friend, and frankly, at 16, what do they do? There are no options. There was no #MeToo.”

Solomon Gresen said that the nude scenes were shot for young children who had no idea what was about to happen. They were violated and at the same time became famous at a level they had never expected, and they were unaware how to deal with it.