The heirs of Aldo Gucci, who was chairman of the Gucci fashion house from 1953 to 1986, have issued a statement saying they are “a bit disconcerted” about what they claim is their inaccurate portrayal in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” film.
“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 said.
It added that the pic attributes “a tone and and an attitude to the protagonists of the well-known events that never belonged to them.”
"This is tremendously sad from a human standpoint and a disrespect to the history on which the brand is based today," the statement said.
The statement — first published by Italian news agency ANSA, of which Variety has a copy — goes on to blast how Milanese socialite Patrizia Reggiani (played by Lady Gaga in the film), who was convicted in 1998 of facilitating the murder of Maurizio Gucci (played by Adam Driver), “is portrayed not just in the film, but also in statements from cast members, as a victim trying to survive in a male and male chauvinist corporate culture.”
“This couldn’t be further from the truth,” the statement goes on to say, since during the 70-year time span when the Gucci company was a family business, it was “an inclusive company,” it claims.
Indeed, during the 1980s, when the film is set, “there were several women who held top positions” at Gucci, whether they were family members or not, such as the president of Gucci America, the head of Global PR and communications, and a member of the board of directors of the Gucci America company, the statement noted.
“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 concluded, adding 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.”
Despite the tone of the statement, no legal action is being taken at this time by the Gucci family against Scott’s Scott Free shingle and Universal, according to an inside source.
Scott, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today show last week, dismissed previous criticism made to the Associated Press by Patrizia Gucci, who while speaking on behalf of the family, had accused the director of “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.”
