Olivia de Havilland’s ‘Feud’ Lawsuit Thrown Out On Appeal
March 26, 2018
Olivia de Havilland’s ‘Feud’ Lawsuit Thrown Out On Appeal
A California appellate court has dismissed Olivia de Havilland’s lawsuit against FX Networks over its limited series Feud: Bette and Joan, concluding that, “The First Amendment does not require authors, filmmakers, playwrights, and television producers to provide their creations to the public at no charge.”
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The judges added that Catherine Zeta-Jones’s portrayal of the Oscar-winning actress in the program “is not highly offensive to a reasonable person as a matter of law” (read the full ruling here).
At issue was just how fictionalized a portrayal can be before it crosses the line into defamation. The case had far-reaching First Amendment implications.
FX Nets in August had filed a motion to strike the complaint, but that action was denied. The company then appealed to the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals last week, and today it ruled unanimously to throw out the suit.
The Oscar-winning actress objected to her portrayal by Zeta-Jones, claiming her name and likeness were used to promote the docudrama without her permission and that the series damaged her reputation by casting her in a false light as a hypocrite “selling gossip in order to promote herself at the Academy Awards, criticizing fellow actors, using vulgarity and cheap language.” She took particular issue with Zeta-Jones’ de Havilland referring to Joan Fontaine as her “bitch sister.”
“Books, films, plays, and television shows often portray real people. Some are famous and some are just ordinary folks. Whether a person portrayed in one of these expressive works is a world-renowned film star — ‘a living legend’ — or a person no one knows, she or he does not own history. Nor does she or he have the legal right to control, dictate, approve, disapprove, or veto the creator’s portrayal of actual people,” the appeal court wrote in a unanimous decision.”
De Havilland filed the lawsit in June, a day before her 101st birthday. Seeking a jury trial, sweeping damages and unplugging the eventually Emmy-winning limited series, the two-time Oscar winner says her portrayal by Zeta-Jones damaged her “professional reputation for integrity, honesty, generosity, self-sacrifice and dignity.”
Netflix and the MPAA had sided with FX Networks in the case.
Dominc Patten and Dave Robb contributed to this report.