Megalopolis controversy: Francis Ford Coppola sues Variety

Francis Ford Coppola has sued the media house Variety over an article that alleged that the filmmaker misbehaved with background actors, hugging and kissing them on the sets of his upcoming film Megalopolis.

Coppola has sued the company for USD 15 million, two days after the background actor Lauren Pagone sued him for civil battery, civil assault, and negligent failure to prevent sexual harassment. Pagone was quoted in a follow-up Variety article.

A note from Coppola's legal team reads as follows:

“Some people are creative. Very few people are creative geniuses. In the world of motion pictures, Plaintiff Francis Ford Coppola (“Coppola”) is a creative genius. Some people are jealous and resentful of genius. Those people therefore denigrate and tell knowing and reckless falsehoods about those of whom they are jealous. Here, Variety Media, LLC (“Variety”), its writers and editors, hiding behind supposedly anonymous sources, accused Coppola of manifest incompetence as a motion picture director, of unprofessional behaviour 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 and knowingly so. They were made to harm Coppola’s reputation and cause him severe emotional distress. That harm has been caused.”

Megalopolis will hit screens on September 23.