The Real-Life Gucci Family Is Pissed About House Of Gucci
They released a scathing statement in an Italian newspaper.
House of Gucci was one of the most anticipated films of the year. Based on the book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden and starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and Jared Leto, it promised an all-star true-crime saga. But the response by the real-life figures in the film has not been kind; the Gucci family’s response after House Of Gucci came out is utterly scathing.
House of Gucci depicts the real-life 1995 murder of Gucci scion Maurizio. His ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, was convicted of hiring a hitman and sentenced to 29 years in prison in 1998. The film begins in the early 1970s when the two initially met, following their whirlwind courtship, which was disapproved of by Maurizio’s father. It recounts how Patrizia pushed Maurizio into removing the rest of his family from the business, thus becoming the head of the company and the controller of the family fortune.
However, as reviews have pointed out, director Ridley Scott chose to lean into the campier side in retelling this story. Both Lady Gaga’s accent and Jared Leto’s entire performance have been derided in the press. Designer Tom Ford, who appears as a character late in the film (his first major design work was for Gucci in the mid-1990s), compared it to watching Saturday Night Live. But perhaps most notably, the Gucci family is also not thrilled about how the family is depicted. The heirs of Aldo Gucci (played by Al Pacino) went so far as to publish a statement in the Italian newspaper ANSA condemning the film.
According to Variety, which translated the statement, it reads in part: “The production of the film did not bother to consult the heirs before describing Aldo Gucci — president of the company for 30 years — 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.” (Elite Daily reached out to reps from the film for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.)
Moreover, the family takes issue with Gaga’s performance as Patrizia Reggiani, claiming her take on the character and the film’s structure suggests Patrizia was as much a victim as a perpetrator, sympathizing with her for being trapped in a male chauvinist corporate culture. “This couldn’t be further from the truth,” the statement claims. (Elite Daily reached out to Lady Gaga’s team for comment but did not hear back.)
The statement goes on to say the Gucci family business was “an inclusive company” and that “several women” held “top positions” in the 1980s. “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 members of the Gucci family reserve the right to take action to protect the name, image, and dignity of themselves and their loved ones,” the statement continued. Despite the statement’s threatening tone, Variety reported the family has not taken legal action against the film at this time.
House of Gucci is playing in theaters and is expected to be a significant player in the 2022 awards season.
