A skirmish of sorts has broken out between sister publications Variety and Deadline, regarding supposed video evidence of Francis Ford Coppola’s bad behavior while filming his upcoming epic, Megalopolis. It all started last week, when Variety posted a series of videos purporting to show the Apocalypse Now director touching and kissing female extras while filming a scene at a nightclub. At the time, these videos appeared to back up claims made in a Guardian report from May, which alleged that this behavior was not consensual.In response to Variety’s piece, however, Deadline released its own article this past Tuesday alleging that the videos were merely “published for clicks.” This follow-up contained a statement from Rayna Menz, one of the extras shown in the video, who posted on Instagram that she was “disgusted” by the allegations and said it was “an honor to work with such a legend.” Coppola “did nothing to make me or for that matter anyone on set feel uncomfortable,” Menz continued in a statement to Deadline. “I was blindsided by it because it was a closed set. That someone had video of that is just ridiculous and super unprofessional… [Coppola] was nothing but professional, a gentleman, he was like this cute Italian grandfather, running around the set.”Today, however, Variety—and Lauren Pagone, another extra depicted in the videos—hit back against Menz and Deadline with a different account. Pagone says she was “in shock” and “caught off guard” when the director hugged and kissed her in the middle of the same nightclub sequence. “And I can tell you he came around a couple times,” she added. Pagone also addressed Menz’s statement, saying, “I don’t appreciate anybody speaking for me. I would never speak for that actress.” She added, “It’s frustrating that she’s putting out there, ‘Hey, it was great for everyone’ when she doesn’t know what other people were feeling. You can’t speak for anyone but yourself. My experience was different.” For today’s report, Variety also spoke to a separate unnamed cast member as well as the crew member who allegedly filmed the videos that were shared. The cast member detailed a separate shoot involving a New Year’s Eve celebration (which the crew member confirmed), where the director allegedly kissed several women on the cheek after calling cut. “The women that I saw being kissed did not see him coming. He just basically grabbed them and planted the kiss on them without any kind of consent,” the cast member said. “They all kind of laughed it off for a moment and then I could tell that they were just surprised.” They added, “My entire experience being on that set was super weird and uncomfortable. It was probably the worst experience for me on a set ever.”Unfortunately, Coppola didn’t really clear up any of this confusion when he addressed the allegations in a recent interview with The New York Times. “[M]y mother told me that if you make an advance toward a woman, it means you disrespect her, and the girls I had crushes on, I certainly didn’t disrespect them,” he said. “I’m not touchy-feely. I’m too shy.”For what it’s worth, Megalopolis premieres in theaters September 27.This article has been corrected to remove a note stating that the Variety videos had been deleted. They are still live in the outlet's original article.
