The surviving family members of renowned fashion house Gucci have expressed disappointment with how they have been depicted in the movie 'House of Gucci'. They have threatened to file a lawsuit against the film's director, Ridley Scott.
A statement issued by the heirs of Aldo Gucci, who was chairman of the Gucci fashion house from 1953 to 1986, said, "The production of the film did not bother to consult the heirs before describing Aldo Gucci — president of the company for 30 years [played by Al Pacino in the film] — and the members of the Gucci family as thugs, ignorant and insensitive 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 further reads.
The movie is based on the 2000 nonfiction book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, starring Al Pacino as Aldo Gucci, Jeremy Irons as his brother Rodolfo, and Adam Driver as his nephew Maurizio, who took over the firm until he was murdered in 1995 by a hitman hired by his ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani (played by Lady Gaga).
Reggiani was convicted in 1998 of facilitating the murder of Maurizio Gucci.
The Gucci family's statement also objects to the "statements from cast members" defending Reggiani, who they claim is "indulged" as "a victim trying to survive in a male and male chauvinist corporate culture".
The statement said that they were an "inclusive company", and in the 1980s (the period in which the film is largely set), there were a number of women in key positions.
"Gucci is a family that lives honouring the work of its ancestors, whose memory does not deserve to be disturbed to stage a spectacle that is untrue and which does not do justice to its protagonists."