Judge Dismisses ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Lawsuit Over Underage Nude Scene

A judge on Monday dismissed a second lawsuit over the bedroom scene in the 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet,” finding that the lead actors consented to their appearance in the film.

Actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were 16 and 17 at the time of filming. They first sued Paramount in December 2022, alleging that they were duped by director Franco Zeffirelli into appearing in the nude. The scene includes a lingering shot of Whiting’s bare buttocks and a glimpse of Hussey’s naked breasts.

The original lawsuit was thrown out in May 2023, partly on statute of limitations grounds. The actors filed a new lawsuit in February 2024, arguing that the 2023 Criterion re-release, with a digital restoration, triggered a new statute of limitations

Judge Holly J. Fujie dismissed that claim on Monday, finding that the re-release is not different enough to warrant revisiting the earlier ruling.

“A comparison of the 2023 release with the prior versions shows no significant visible improvement in the film, particularly in the Bedroom Scene, to the naked eye,” the judge wrote.

In the original lawsuit, the actors argued that the film amounts to “child pornography.” Judge Alison Mackenzie rejected that argument, finding that the scene is not “sufficiently sexually suggestive” to meet that definition.

The new lawsuit was filed under state and federal laws intended to combat “revenge pornography,” which prohibit non-consensual distribution of intimate images.

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.”

“Romeo and Juliet” was a major sensation when it was released, largely due to Zeffirelli’s decision to cast teenagers in the lead roles. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and won two, for cinematography and costume design.

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.”

Whiting said that he bears no ill will toward Zeffirelli, who died in 2019 at age 96.

“It’s totally wrong to think there’s a problem between Olivia and I and Franco,” he said. “That’s absolute nonsense.”

Paramount moved to throw out the lawsuit under the California anti-SLAPP statute, which protects First Amendment expression from frivolous suits. In the motion, the studio’s lawyers noted that in 2018 Whiting had written to then-CEO James Gianopulos to say his contract was unfair and to request additional compensation.

“None of Plaintiffs’ sham efforts to re-write what happened on the set in 1967, or how they have comported themselves since, saves this lawsuit from the fate of the Prior Action,” the studio’s lawyers wrote.

William Romaine, the actors’ attorney, said he will recommend that they appeal the ruling. He argued it was improper for the judge to make factual findings about consent and about the digital restoration at this stage of the proceedings.