Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting are suing Paramount for alleged sexual harassment and fraud.
According to records acquired by, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting filed a case against the production firm in Santa Monica Superior Court in California, accusing it of sexual harassment, fraud, sexual abuse, and purposeful infliction of mental distress for the 1968’s feature film adaption Romeo and Juliet.
The actors complained that the director said that no nudity scenes will be included in the movie and up until the penultimate day of filming, when the director allegedly said the movie “would fail” unless the actors acted out the scene while covered up in body makeup.
In the 55 years since the film’s debut, Hussey and Whiting allegedly experienced mental pain, emotional distress, and loss of employment chances. Hussey and Whiting only had extremely brief acting careers following Romeo and Juliet, despite their spectacular performances.
In an interview with Variety, the actors’ attorney said, “Nude images of minors are unlawful and shouldn’t be exhibited. These were very young naive children in the 60s who had no understanding of what was about to hit them. All of a sudden they were famous at a level they never expected, and in addition they were violated in a way they didn’t know how to deal with.”
A California law that temporarily delayed the statute of limitations for past allegations of child sexual abuse is one of the legal bases for the lawsuit.
