Just over two weeks before Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project Megalopolis is set to be released, the director has sued Variety for libel over a July 26 article that called his behavior on the set of the sci-fi film “unprofessional,” alleging that the Oscar winner hugged and kissed female background actors participating in a party scene.
The 85-year-old filmmaker is seeking $15 million and further punitive and exemplary damages from defendants Variety Media LLC and journalists Brent Lang and Tatiana Siegel in the jury trial seeking complaint filed Tuesday in LA Superior Court.
It came two days after Megalopolis extra Lauren Pagone, who was quoted in an Aug. 2 followup Variety article about Coppola’s actions toward female background performers, sued the filmmaker and others in Georgia for civil battery, civil assault, and negligent failure to prevent sexual harassment.
Even with the timing, the eight-page filing from Coppola does not mention that Peach State suit, Pagone or the Variety story she was interviewed for.
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