Gucci Family Slams ‘House of Gucci’ and Al Pacino, Jared Leto Casting: ‘Shameful’ and Offensive

Patrizia Gucci, the great-grandchild of Guccio Gucci, has released a statement to The Associated Press on behalf of the Gucci family speaking out against Ridley Scott’s upcoming drama film “House of Gucci.” The film stars Lady Gaga and Adam Driver as Patrizia Reggiani and Maurizio Gucci, the former of whom served 16 years in prison for contracting the murder of the latter.

“We are truly disappointed. I speak on behalf of the family,” Patrizia Gucci told AP. “They are stealing the identity of a family to make a profit, to increase the income of the Hollywood system….Our family has an identity, privacy. We can talk about everything. but there is a borderline that cannot be crossed.”

According to Patrizia, she did not hear back from Ridley Scott’s wife, Giannina Facio, when she reached out to get a better understanding of the filmmaker’s intentions. Patrizia said Facio met with members of her family in the early 2000s while developing a different film, one that was to focus on the roles “her father, Paolo, and grandfather, Aldo, [played] in expanding the brand into a global luxury player.” That the “House of Gucci” team did not contact the family for the new movie “only heightens the family’s concerns.”

The Associated Press reports: “Patrizia Gucci said her family will decide what further action they might take after seeing the film. Their concerns stem from the casting of top actors to play family members whose stories intersect little with Maurizio Gucci’s murder, the lack of current contact with Scott’s production company and inaccuracies they see in the book on which the film is based.”

One of the biggest concerns Patrizia Gucci has with Scott’s new film is the casting of Al Pacino and Jared Leto as Aldo and Paolo Gucci, respectively. As the Gucci heir said, “My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all the Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant. He is being played by Al Pacino, who is not very tall already, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn’t resemble him at all.”

As for Leto, Patrizia condemned the set photos revealing the Oscar winner’s “unkempt hair and a lilac corduroy suit” as Paolo. “Horrible, horrible,” she said. “I still feel offended.”

Scott’s “House of Gucci” production is making the film with the cooperation of the Gucci fashion house, which the Gucci family has not owned since 1993. The fashion house has given Scott’s production access to its wardrobe archives for the film’s costume design and props.

MGM is behind “House of Gucci” and will release the film through United Artists Releasing on November 24.