Heirs of Italian fashion house Gucci have threatened to take legal action against Ridley Scott’s new film House of Gucci for depicting members of the family as “hooligans.”
Ridley Scott’s new film House of Gucci is already picking up Oscar buzz since its release last weekend. The film stars Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of having fashion heir Maurizio Gucci (played by Adam Driver) assassinated in the 1990s.
Founder Aldo Gucci’s heirs, in a letter published by Italy’s ANSA news agency, wrote, “The Gucci family reserve the right to take every initiative to protect their name and image, and those of their loved ones.”
Ridley Scott has created some of the most iconic movies for the past 40 years including Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator and Thelma and Louise.
The letter further noted that the family was particularly offended by the depiction of Reggiani, “a woman definitively convicted of ordering the murder of Maurizio Gucci… as a victim.”
It went on to complain that Aldo Gucci and relatives were portrayed as “hooligans, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them.”
Since the 1990s, the Gucci family has stayed away from dealing with the fashion house, and the luxury brand is currently owned by the French group Kering.
House of Gucci premiered in Britain earlier in November and will be released in Italy on December 16.
The film placed third at the North American box office, raking in $14.2 million, a healthy profit for an adult-oriented movie at a time when COVID fears have kept many older viewers at home.
The MGM/United Artists film stars Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci, the onetime head of the famed Gucci fashion house, and Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, the vengeful ex-wife who in 1995 hired a hitman to murder Gucci outside his Milan office. The film’s cast also includes stars Al Pacino, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Irons and Jared Leto.
