On July 26, Variety published a headline-making video that alleged Francis Ford Coppola acted inappropriately towards a female extra on the set of his self-funded epic Megalopolis, and now the actress in that video is calling the story "all false."
In an interesting bit of journalistic sibling infighting, Deadline -- the sister publication to both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which ran with the story -- is pushing back.
Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. accuses Variety of posting "for clicks" the video that shows the legendary director dancing with a woman on set. He also interviewed Rayna Menz, the actress at the center of the story.
Variety had alleged its video "shows the legendary director trying to kiss young female extras on the set of his ambitious sci-fi epic," but Menz took to Instagram and called the allegations "gross."
Renz posted in part, "none of the claims ... are true," adding she was, "disgusted" by the allegations.
To Deadline, Renz explained, "He did nothing to make me or ... anyone on set feel uncomfortable," adding she was "blindsided," because the footage was taken on what was supposed to be a "closed set."
She added of Coppola, "It’s gross because he only ever spoke about how wonderful his wife is."
Coppola lost his filmmaker wife of 60 years, Eleanor, in April of 2024.
"His wife was on set with us, most days," Menz said.
The actress insisted Coppola was "nothing but professional," adding of the footage, "I was the one who asked him to dance ... in front of everybody else." "He even said something along the lines of ... 'I'm a gentleman, and I would never say no to a lady,'" she said. "And then we waltzed, to club music."
"It feels gross, seeing that video and [the] way they were trying to convey a message," she added. "Just gross."