Just before “Megalopolis” World premiere At the Cannes Film Festival in May, a shocking exposé was published accusing the film’s director, Francis Ford Coppola, of behaving inappropriately with women on set.
witness He told the Guardian At the time, the 85-year-old Coppola was filming a booze-soaked nightclub scene when he “came on to the set and attempted to kiss several female extras, some of whom were topless and some of whom were wearing revealing clothing.”
Multiple sources told the outlet that Coppola had an “old-fashioned” approach to treating female cast and crew, even making some of them sit on his lap.
on friday, Variety obtained two videos. That seemed to back up the witness’ claim of the kiss.
The scene in question was filmed at the Tabernacle concert hall in Atlanta in February 2023.
According to the call sheet reviewed by the outlet, the female partygoer “had permission to appear topless,” while other extras in the scene “had permission to appear in revealing clothing.”
A source present at the nightclub scene told Variety that between 150 and 200 people were on set.
Coppola was said to have repeatedly jumped up and down to kiss and hug multiple women while directing, which often led to him interrupting and ruining scenes.
Officials described the move as “unusual.”
After multiple takes, Coppola reportedly picked up the microphone and told everyone in the room, “I’m sorry, but I want you to know that whenever I come up to you and kiss you, it’s purely for my own pleasure.”
The Guardian reported that the director’s wife, Eleanor Coppola, had fallen ill during the making of “Megalopolis.” A spokesperson told the paper that she had been on set throughout the film’s production until illness prevented her from being there. She passed away in April.
Sources close to Francis noted that despite Eleanor’s death, the film was completed on time and within budget.
A representative for Francis declined to comment on the video or the allegations about his behavior, and Page Six had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
But Francis appeared to deny the allegations last month. The New York Times asked “I’m too shy to get emotional,” he told the paper, in response to a Guardian article detailing the incident.
Meanwhile, co-executive producer Darren Demetre defended the filmmaker in a statement, acknowledging that the physical contact did occur.
“We had two days to shoot a Studio 54-style celebratory club scene, and Francis walked around the set giving loving hugs and kisses on the cheek to cast and background actors, adding to the atmosphere of the scene,” he said.
“It was his way of creating and establishing the club atmosphere that was so important to the film.”
Demetre added that he had “never heard any complaints of harassment or inappropriate behavior during the life of the project.”
The Guardian reports there were other instances of alleged unprofessional behaviour on set by Francis, despite him having personally funded the entire $120 million project.
A source told Variety that crew members looked at each other awkwardly as Coppola kissed and hugged extras, but no one publicly objected or tried to intervene.
“Because Coppola funded it, there was no HR department monitoring the situation,” the second source said. “Who were they supposed to talk to? Should they have complained to Coppola and reported it to Coppola himself?”
Neither of the two intimacy coordinators who worked on the film was on set the day the nightclub scenes were shot, with one of them telling the outlet, “I don’t really know why they brought us in at this time and not when they didn’t.”
A few days after the scene, production sources said senior staffers had become concerned about the kissing video circulating and reminded everyone that non-disclosure agreements stipulated that no behind-the-scenes footage be made public.
“Megalopolis” will be released in theaters in September.
