Just when you think you’ve seen everything:
Deadline.com, owned by Jay Penske, is attacking the reporting of sister publication, Variety.
Variety reported last week that “Megalopolis” director Francis Ford Coppola was seen kissing extras on the set of his movie. Variety portrayed this with exclusive video of Coppola planting one on an extra.
Now Deadline.com has gotten to the extra, who’s refuted the whole thing. Reyna Menz says it was all innocent, she’s appalled there was a video, that Coppola’s late wife, Eleanor, was right there.
“He did nothing to make me or for that matter anyone on set feel uncomfortable,” Menz told Deadline. “I felt disgusted, I was blindsided by it because it was a closed set. That someone had video of that is just ridiculous and super unprofessional. It’s gross because he only ever spoke about how wonderful his wife is. His wife was on set with us, most days. It feels gross, seeing that video and they way they were trying to convey a message. Just gross.”
Menska even published a statement on Instagram. (see below)
For Deadline to attack Variety’s journalism in public, that’s more of a Civil War than the movie. After all, they all work in the same building out west. This is going to be a bigger earthquake than anything those people have ever experienced.
Here’s the link to the Deadline story and the Variety story.
What’s the history here? Deadline’s Mike Fleming was invited to the first screening in LA of “Megalopolis.” It was his exclusive, and he was the only journalist there. He raved about it. This was followed by Penske’s Hollywood Reporter reaming the whole thing out, declaring the movie unreleaseable. Then Variety came with the sexual harassment story. Now Deadline has fired back.
Hang on, kids. Only in Hollywood, only in Hollywood!
