Appeals court tosses Coppola’s defamation suit over ‘Megalopolis’ story

A California appeals court threw out Francis Ford Coppola's defamation suit against Variety over its reporting on his behavior during production of 'Megalopolis,' finding Coppola had not disputed hugging and kissing extras and had failed to show the article's claims were false. Coppola's suit centered on Variety's suggestion, following earlier Guardian reporting, that some of the women he kissed were topless.

The appellate panel found Variety's article carefully stated only that video appeared to corroborate the Guardian's separate reporting, which the court ruled was nonactionable opinion rather than a false factual claim. The court similarly found claims that Coppola wandered into shots and 'ruined' them were a mix of unchallenged fact and protected opinion.

Coppola, who spent roughly $120 million of his own money and four decades making the film, saw it earn back only $15 million at the box office. He did not sue the Guardian, whose reporting Variety's article was said to corroborate.

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