Francis Ford Coppola has filed a libel lawsuit against Variety for reporting on his alleged unprofessional behavior on the set of Megalopolis. His flimsy suit includes hiding behind NDAs and using the “you’re just jealous” argument.
Coppola’s latest film, Megalopolis, was recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival before its wide release on September 27. However, the project has been riddled with controversy both behind the scenes and on screen. In July, Variety released a bombshell report highlighting allegations of misconduct against Coppola from several film crew members. Sources told the outlet that Coppola had funded the project himself, resulting in the set allegedly having no HR contacts or typical “checks and balances in place.” The outlet also embedded videos that seemingly confirmed prior accusations from The Guardian that Coppola had tried to kiss female extras on set.
A month later, Megalopolis found itself embroiled in controversy again after its first trailer utilized fake reviews. Lionsgate had to pull the trailer after viewers noticed it included fake AI-generated reviews about Coppola’s previous works. Now, the movie is making headlines again as Coppola attempts to sue Variety.
Francis Ford Coppola sues Variety for libel
According to Rolling Stone, Coppola is suing Variety for $15 million over its article about his alleged misconduct on set. The libel lawsuit was filed on September 12 and accuses Variety of trying to “harm Coppola’s reputation and cause him severe emotional distress.” The suit’s arguments are interesting. For one, his legal team is painting an overly flattering image of him while trying to claim that the accusations against him were born out of jealousy. According to his lawyers, Coppola is a “creative genius,” and “some people are jealous and resentful of his genius.” Instead of providing evidence to debunk the claims of the extras, they’re riding on the assumption of jealousy.
The suit’s other strange argument concerns the NDAs the extras allegedly signed. It accuses Variety of being “reckless” by speaking with the extras who had signed NDAs. The suit seems to be trying to say that Variety should’ve known of the NDAs and realized that they made the sources “unreliable.” It states, “They [Megalopolis actors] promised to keep confidential any information,” yet “did not tell the truth when they signed the NDAs.” The argument is hard to follow as the NDAs were between Coppola and the actors, not between Coppola and Variety. Additionally, while the extras may have violated the NDAs and could be vulnerable to financial penalties, breaking an NDA isn’t proof that they’re lying or should be considered “unreliable.”
The suit goes on to claim that the actors who made the accusations “wished to harm Coppola” since they broke their NDAs and filmed the videos of him apparently kissing the extras despite being told that private photography was prohibited. The strange thing about the suit is that it doesn’t even seem to be trying to disprove the allegations. Instead, it’s wholly focused on pointing out that the actors weren’t allowed to reveal what happened or share video footage from the set. Coppola needs to prove that Variety made a false statement about him or shared the actors’ statements while knowing they were false. However, pointing to NDAs and private photography prohibitions isn’t proof that these allegations are false.
In addition, Variety reported on what the actors told the outlet, and these actors had two videos to back up their allegations, which should make a libel suit difficult to prove. Lately, defamation and libel suits seem to be a dime a dozen among powerful men. From Johnny Depp to Marilyn Manson to Andrew Tate to Coppola, the typical response of men accused of misconduct and abuse is to sue their accusers and outlets that report on their allegations. Given how flimsy Coppola’s suit appears, it may, hopefully, demonstrate that powerful men can’t always just sue their way out of accountability.
Published: Sep 13, 2024 01:21 pm