House of Gucci has been polarizing since its release. Some people love it, others hate it.
Firmly in the hate camp is the Gucci family, who in a new statement said they were “truly disappointed” by the Ridley Scott film. The heirs of Aldo Gucci, the chairman of the fashion house from 1953 to 1986, say the film attributes “a tone and an attitude to the protagonists of the well-known events that never belonged to them,” per Variety.
The family called the new film’s interpretation of events “extremely painful from a human point of view and an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.”
The crime drama stars Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, and more.
“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,” the statement goes on to say.
It was initially shared with Italian news agency ANSA, and calls Gaga’s portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani—whom they claimed was displayed as “a victim trying to survive in a male and male chauvinist corporate culture”—as “further from the truth.” The heirs claim in the statement that, even then, Gucci was “an inclusive company” and that “there were several women who held top positions.”
“Gucci is a family that lives honoring 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,” the statement added, saying that “the members of the Gucci family reserve the right to take action to protect the name, image and dignity of themselves and their loved ones.”
No legal action has yet to be taken against Scott’s Scott Free production company, while Scott has previously shot down comments Patrizia Gucci made about the film “stealing the identity of a family to make a profit.”
“I don’t engage with that,” Scott told BBC Radio. “You have to remember that one Gucci was murdered and another went to jail for tax evasion, so you can’t be talking to me about making a profit. As soon as you do that you become part of the public domain.”
