Francis Ford Coppola Sues Variety for $15 Million Over Story About His Behavior on “Megalopolis” Set

A July 26 article published by 'Variety' alleged inappropriate behavior by the director towards female extras

Francis Ford Coppola is suing Variety for libel after the Hollywood trade outlet published a story that alleged inappropriate behavior by the director towards female extras on the set of his upcoming film Megalopolis.

The suit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and reviewed by PEOPLE, names Variety and executive editors Tatiana Siegel and Brent Lang. Siegel and Lang appear on the byline for the article, which was initially published on July 26, 2024 and remains live on the Variety website.

In the suit, Coppola, 85, claims that Variety knew the allegations leveraged against him were "false" and they were made to "harm Coppola's reputation and cause him severe emotional distress." He further says "harm has been caused" and he is seeking no less than $15 million in damages and a jury trial.

Related: The Coppola Family: All About the Film Dynasty Including Sofia Coppola and Nicolas Cage

On Wednesday night, a rep for Coppola issued the following statement on behalf of the director to PEOPLE.

“Nothing in my 60+ years career can equal the painstakingly difficult, yet artistically triumphant journey of bringing Megalopolis to the screen. 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," the statement read.

"To see our collective efforts tainted by false, reckless and irresponsible reporting is devastating. No publication, especially a legacy industry outlet, should be enabled to use surreptitious video and unnamed sources in pursuit of their own financial gain," it continued. "While I have no intention of litigating this in the media, I will vigorously defend my reputation and have trust in the courts to hold them accountable."

Reps for Variety and its parent company PMC did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

The Variety story published in July, which is at the center of Coppola's complaint, cited anonymous sources that claimed the director tried to kiss female extras in a nightclub scene that were "topless" or "scantily clad." The source was also allegedly reported as claiming at one point after multiple takes, that Coppola grabbed a microphone and said out loud, "Sorry, if I come up to you and kiss you. Just know it’s solely for my pleasure."

The lawsuit also complains about the Variety article's inclusion of video footage reportedly from the scene in question, where Coppola seemingly kisses and dances with female extras while filming in a night club. Siegel and Lang wrote that the video corroborated claims that Coppola was trying to kiss extras that initially surfaced in an article by The Guardian on May 14.

Background actress Rayna Menz, who appears in the footage, refuted the claims against Coppola in an Instagram message. Menz told Variety's sister publication Deadline that the director “was nothing but professional, a gentleman, he was like this cute Italian grandfather, running around the set."

In the court filings, Coppola’s attorneys asserted that before filing the lawsuit, he “provided evidence to Variety that the above allegations were false and Coppola requested that the allegations be retracted. Variety refused and doubled down. It repeated the same allegations and thereby emphasized its malice toward Coppola. In order to clear his name and obtain a public determination of the falsity of Variety’s allegations, Coppola has brought this case."

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Megalopolis is a sci-fi epic that stars Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito and DB Sweeney. The film screened on Sept. 9 at the Toronto International Film Festival with Coppola and the stars in attendance.

The film is set to be released on Sept. 27.

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Read the original article on People.