"Romeo & Juliet" Stars Sue Over 1968 Film's Teen Nude Scene

LOS ANGELES, CA — The two stars of 1968's “Romeo and Juliet” sued Paramount Pictures for more than $500 million alleging they were tricked and pressured into filming a nude scene for the movie when they were teens. The films stars, now in their 70s, filed suit on the last day of 2022 hours before a three-year window closed for victims of decades-old childhood sexual abuse to sue their abusers.

The lawsuit, filed electronically over the weekend in the Santa Monica branch of Los Angeles Superior Court by Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, alleges sexual harassment, childhood sexual abuse, fraud, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and other violations. Hussey, who was 15 during filming is now 71, and Whiting, who was 16, is now 72.

The blockbuster allegations are among several high-profile cases to emerge in the last week, including a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against Arrowsmith frontman Steven Tyler. It's estimated that the three-year window led to thousands of lawsuits, accusing institutions such as the Catholic Church and Boy Scouts along with celebrities such as Bill Cosby and George Foreman, of being complicit in the abuse of minors.

SEE ALSO: Tsunami Of Childhood Sex Abuse Suits Flood CA Before Year-End Deadline

“Romeo and Juliet” 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.

"However, on the morning of the shoot of the bedroom scene in the second week of December 1968, the very last days of the photography, the minor children plaintiffs were given body make-up and told by Mr. Zeffirelli that they must act in the nude or the picture would fail," according to the lawsuit. "Millions were invested. They would never work again in any profession, let alone Hollywood."

According to the suit, the actors “believed they had no choice but to act in the nude in body makeup as demanded.”

Zeffirelli assured the young actors 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.

Whiting's bare buttocks and Hussey's bare breasts are briefly shown during the scene.

"The knowing and repeated use of sexual images of minor children is the worst of behaviors in our society and must be eradicated," the suit states.

"Romeo and Juliet" won Oscars for cinematography and costume design. It was nominated for best picture and best director for Zeffirelli. The film, and its theme song, were major hits at the time, and has been shown to generations of high school students studying the Shakespeare play since.

The court filing says the Hussey and Whiting have suffered emotional damage and mental anguish for decades, and that each had careers that did not reflect the success of the movie.

It says given that suffering and the revenue brought in by the film since its release, the actors are entitled to damages of more than $500 million.

An email seeking comment from representatives of Paramount was not immediately returned.

Hussey defended the scene in a 2018 interview with Variety, which first reported the lawsuit, for the film's 50th anniversary.

“Nobody my age had done that before,” she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. “It was needed for the film.”

Over the past three years, California Assembly Bill 218 temporarily set aside the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse victims to file claims. It led to a flood of suits against celebrities, institutions and family members that exposed decades of abuse.

According to the Times, over 2,000 lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Church, alone. Other civil cases against large organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, SeaCoast Grace megachurch in Cypress were filed during this open period of time known as the 'look-back' window.

The three-year legal window known as the "look-back" window that enabled older adult victims to sue for damages against their childhood sexual abusers closed at midnight on Dec. 31, 2022

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa has announced plans to file for bankruptcy protection in anticipation of about 130 victim lawsuits dating back to 1962, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported. The diocese called it an “inevitable result of an insurmountable number of claims,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

City News Service, The Associated Press and Patch Staffer Paige Austin and Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.