Coppola Sues Variety for $15M Over Libelous Misconduct Claims

Francis Ford Coppola has filed a lawsuit against Variety, claiming that a July article alleging he managed an unprofessional set with impunity and engaged in inappropriate conduct with female extras during the production of his film “Megalopolis” was false and defamatory.

The legal action, seeking at least $15 million from the entertainment trade publication, was lodged in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, just two weeks before the U.S. release of the director’s long-anticipated and self-financed epic.

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The lawsuit describes the 85-year-old director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” as a “creative genius” and claims that envy has driven others to spread “knowing and reckless falsehoods.”

According to the suit, Variety’s “writers and editors, hiding behind supposedly anonymous sources, accused Coppola of manifest incompetence as a motion picture director, of unprofessional behavior on the set of his most recent production, Megalopolis, of setting up some type of scheme so that anyone on the set who had a complaint of harassment or otherwise had nowhere to lodge a complaint, and of hugging topless actresses on the set. Each of these accusations was false.”

The lawsuit also names the article’s reporters, Brent Lang and Tatiana Siegel, as defendants.

The legal complaint asserts that Variety was either knowingly publishing false information or displaying a reckless disregard for the truth, a standard for libel established by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A spokesperson for Variety, Jeffrey Schneider, told The Associated Press, “While we will not comment on active litigation, we stand by our reporters.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, Coppola expressed that no experience in his career compares to the challenging yet victorious efforts involved in making “Megalopolis.”

“It was a collaboration of hundreds of artists, from extras to box office stars, to whom I consistently displayed the utmost respect and my deepest gratitude,” Coppola said. “To see our collective efforts tainted by false, reckless and irresponsible reporting is devastating.”

Variety’s July 26 article relied on anonymous reports and videos from crew members of a nightclub scene filmed in Atlanta in February 2023. The article asserted that Coppola tried to kiss young female extras and “appeared to act with impunity” on set, noting that the film’s financial structure meant “there were none of the traditional checks and balances in place.”

One video reportedly shows Coppola, dressed in a white suit, walking through a dancing crowd, leaning in to hug, kiss on the cheek, or whisper to several young women. Another video allegedly depicts him leaning towards a woman who pulls away and shakes her head. The women were clothed, and the Variety article mentioned “topless” extras only as a reference to an initial report on the allegations by the Guardian.

In a follow-up story about a week later, also mentioned in Coppola’s lawsuit, one of the women, Lauren Pagone, publicly identified herself and stated that Coppola left her “in shock” when he touched, hugged, and kissed her without consent. Pagone said she came forward because another extra, Rayna Menz, claimed in Variety’s sister publication Deadline that Coppola did nothing to make her or anyone else uncomfortable on set.

Subsequently, Pagone filed a lawsuit against Coppola in Georgia, alleging that his actions amounted to civil assault and civil battery. When asked for a response to Pagone’s lawsuit, a Coppola representative stated there would be no immediate comment beyond the director’s broader statement.

The AP generally does not disclose the identities of individuals alleging sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Pagone has.

When the Associated Press inquired about the touching and kissing allegations before Coppola filed his lawsuit, he responded, “I don’t even want to (talk about it). It’s a waste of time.” Later in the same interview, unprompted, Coppola added, “I’m very respectful of women. I always have been. My mother taught me — she was a little nuts — she said, ‘Francis if you ever make a pass at a girl, that means you disrespect her.’ So I never did.”

The lawsuit takes particular umbrage with Variety’s claim that Coppola inadvertently walked into a shot and ruined it, arguing that he was aware some camera angles would include him and that he was meant to appear in the scene.

“The average reader would understand that Coppola was so aged and infirm that he no longer knew how to direct a motion picture,” the suit states.

“Megalopolis,” a Roman epic set in a futuristic New York, stars Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel, with Coppola having sold parts of his extensive wine empire to largely finance the project himself.