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Romeo & Juliet stars sue Paramount Pictures for sexual abuse

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The stars of the Oscar-winning 1968 film Romeo and Juliet are suing Paramount Pictures for sexual abuse over a nude scene they appeared in.

Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey were teenagers when they made the movie.

In a new legal case, the English actors, now in their 70s, claim director Franco Zeffirelli encouraged them to do nude scenes despite previous assurances that they would not have to.

Paramount has not yet publicly responded to the claim.

The two actors are seeking damages of more than $500m (£417m), based on suffering they say they have experienced and the revenue brought in by the film since its release.

They claim Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, initially told them they would wear flesh-coloured underwear in the bedroom scene.

But on the morning of the shoot, they allege the director told them they would wear only body make-up, while assuring them the camera would be positioned to not show nudity.

In the final film, Whiting’s bare buttocks and Hussey’s bare breasts were briefly shown during the scene.

Zeffirelli told them they must act in the nude “or the picture would fail” and their careers would be hurt, the pair claim in the lawsuit. The actors “believed they had no choice but to act in the nude in body makeup as demanded”.

Whiting was then aged 16 and is now 72, while Hussey was 15 when the film was shot and is now 71.

The pair are suing Paramount for sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud.

The lawsuit accuses the Hollywood studio of sexually exploiting the two young actors and distributing nude images of adolescent children.

The court filing says Whiting and Hussey have suffered emotional damage and mental anguish for decades as a result of the way they were treated.

The film was a huge success at the time, and has been shown to generations of students studying the Shakespeare play since.

It was nominated for four Oscars, including best director and best picture, and won two – for cinematography and costume design.

The lawsuit was filed on Friday in Santa Monica Superior Court under a California law that has temporarily suspended the statute of limitations – which means action cannot normally be taken once a certain time has elapsed – for child sex abuse.

The suspension has led to a host of new lawsuits and the revival of many others that were previously dismissed.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift named Time Magazine’s person of the year

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Taylor Swift has capped off a stellar 2023 by being named Time Magazine’s person of the year.
The star, whose Eras tour broke box office records and provoked an inquiry into Ticketmaster’s sales practices, follows the likes of Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg and Volodymyr Zelensky.

She told the magazine that she is “the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt”.

The award goes to an event or person deemed to have had the most influence on global events over the past year.

The singer also admitted to the magazine that the toll of her 180-minute Eras concerts often left her feeling physically exhausted.

After a run of shows, “I do not leave my bed except to get food and take it back to my bed and eat it there,” she said.

“I can barely speak because I’ve been singing for three shows straight. Every time I take a step my feet go crunch, crunch, crunch from dancing in heels.”

(BBC News)

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Veteran actor Suminda Sirisena passes away

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Veteran actor Suminda Sirisena has passed away at the age of 75.

According to family members, he breathed his last this morning while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Gampaha.

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Veteran actress Leena De Silva passes away

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Veteran actress Leena De Silva has passed away at the age of 87, family sources said.

She was living in Canada at the time of her death.

She made her film debut in 1954 with the film Ahankara Sthriya, followed by the film Surathali released in 1956, as well as many films including Sohoyuro, Sundara Birinda, Sunita and Nalagana.

A mother of two children, she was the beloved wife of late veteran actor Ravindra Rupasena.

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