Top court won't hear de Havilland's case about TV miniseries
Legal Outlook - POSTED: 2019/01/08 16:51
Legal Outlook - POSTED: 2019/01/08 16:51
The Supreme Court is declining to revive a lawsuit by Olivia de Havilland over the FX Networks miniseries "Feud: Bette and Joan," which centered on the rivalry between actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.
The high court on Monday said it would not take the actress's case. That means a California appeals court's decision throwing out the lawsuit stands. The appeals court unanimously ruled in 2018 that California law and the First Amendment required the lawsuit's dismissal.
The 102-year-old de Havilland had objected to her depiction on the eight-part miniseries. She said her likeness was illegally used and her character, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, came across as a vulgar gossipmonger.
As is its usual practice, the Supreme Court did not say anything about the case in declining to hear it.