A lawsuit by actress Olivia de Havilland against the FX Networks creators of “Feud: Bette and Joan” for its portrayal of her was thrown out by a California appeals court Monday.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled the show's creators exercised their First Amendment rights and are not subject to de Havilland’s claims that she should have been consulted for permission and compensated for the portrayal of her in the show, The Associated Press reported.
“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,” the panel of three judges wrote, the AP reported. “Nor does she have the legal right to control, dicate, approve, disapprove, or veto the creator’s portrayal of actual people.”
The Motion Picture Association of America and Netflix supported FX in the suit, saying that if de Havilland prevailed, legal action would be possible against “all books, films, plays and television programs that accurately portray real people,” according to the AP.
Ryan Murphy, the creator of “Feud,” hailed the ruling as a “victory for the creative community and the First Amendment” that “gives all creators the breathing room necessary to continue to tell important historical stories inspired by true events,” the AP reported.
In the series, De Havilland was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, who in the show as de Havilland called her sister Joan Fontaine a b**** and also made a joke about Frank Sinatra’s heavy drinking, both of which de Havilland said never happened.
Attorney for de Havilland, Suzelle Smith, said de Havilland, who is 101, plans to appeal the decision further, the AP reported.
The case was seen as an important one for First Amendment rights in the entertainment industry.
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