Gucci’s Heirs Threatened To Sue Ridley Scott Over His Film House Of Gucci 

The film is ‘an affront to the heritage on which the business is founded,’ according to the family.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

House of Gucci has been threatened with legal action by the Gucci family over their representation in Ridley Scott’s latest film.

The heirs of Aldo Gucci (portrayed by Al Pacino in the film) said that “production of the film” did not “bother to contact” them before portraying the company’s president for 30 years and “members of the Gucci family” as “thugs, stupid and oblivious to the world around them.”

“This is extremely painful from a human point of view and an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today,” the statement, published by Italian wire service ANSA on Monday (29 November), read.

Lady Gaga (formerly Italian socialite Patrizia Reggiani) spent 16 years in prison for planning the assassination of her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci, who was once the head of the fashion house (Adam Driver).

The film also stars Jared Leto and Salma Hayek and was released on November 26th.

Depicting Reggiani as “a victim who was trying to survive in a masculine and macho corporate culture” is even more “objectionable”, the statement read.

Despite the fact that Reggiani was “definitively convicted of having been the initiator of the murder of Maurizio Gucci,” the heirs – who governed Gucci for 33 years until the mid 1980s – took special exception to his depiction as a victim. The national news media called her the “Black Widow.”

The Gucci heirs indicated in a statement that has been extensively referenced by Italian media since the film’s premiere that this favourable depiction of Reggiani extends to remarks made by the film’s cast members.

In a recent interview with British Vogue, Gaga stated that her portrayal of Reggiani was not intended to “glorify someone who would do murder,” but rather to “pay tribute to women throughout history who were specialists at surviving” and the “unfortunate repercussions of hurt.”

The family refuted the accusation made in the Ridley Scott film that the corporation was not inclusive of women.

During the 1980s, when the film is set, “women were in various senior positions,” according to a statement acquired by Variety, including “the president of Gucci America, the Head of Global PR & Communication, and a member of the board of directors of Gucci America.”

“The Gucci family reserve the right to take whatever step (necessary) to safeguard their reputation and image, as well as those of their loved ones,” the statement said, referring to the errors.

Scott reacted to Patrizia Gucci, Maurizio’s cousin, who said the film “is taking the name of a family to make a profit to raise the profits of the Hollywood system” earlier this week.

“I don’t interact with that,” the director of The Last Duel remarked. You have to keep in mind that one Gucci was assassinated and another was imprisoned for tax evasion, so you can’t speak to me about generating money.”