The Gucci Family Isn’t Happy About House Of Gucci, To Say the Least

The Gucci family isn’t mincing words when it comes to House of Gucci. The reviews are rolling in for Ridley Scott’s new film starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, and the general consensus is that both actors nail their respective performances as Patrizia Reggiani and Maurizio Gucci. But the Guccis themselves have a very different opinion.

Below, the Gucci family’s response to House of Gucci — and how Lady Gaga and Ridley Scott have reacted to their criticism.

The Gucci family is “disappointed” with pretty much everything about the film.

The family first expressed their disapproval in April, when principal photography was underway in Italy. Patrizia Gucci, Maruizio’s second cousin, says she reached out to Scott’s wife, Giannia Facio, to inquire about the film’s premise. Facio never responded, and Patrizia issued a statement on behalf of her family to the Associated Press, saying that the film “goes beyond the headline-grabbing true-crime story and pries into the private lives of the Guccio Gucci heirs”.

“We are truly disappointed … They are stealing the identity of a family to make a profit, to increase the income of the Hollywood system…” Gucci told AP. “Our family has an identity, privacy. We can talk about everything. But there is a borderline that cannot be crossed.”

The statement went on to state their disapproval of Al Pacino’s casting as Aldo Gucci, Patrizia’s grandfather and the longtime chairman of the family company. “My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all the Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant. He is being played by Al Pacino, who is not very tall already, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn’t resemble him at all,” Gucci said.

Patrizia Reggiani is also “annoyed,” specifically with Lady Gaga.

While Reggiani initially expressed approval of Lady Gaga’s casting in House of Gucci, she later conveyed her distress that she wasn’t consulted by the actor.

“I am rather annoyed at the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without having had the consideration and sensibility to come and meet me,” Reggiani told Italian outlet Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata in March. “It is not an economic question. I won’t get a cent from the film. It is a question of good sense and respect.”

Both Gaga and Scott have responded to the family’s disapproval.

In a cover story with British Vogue earlier this month, Lady Gaga acknowledged Reggiani’s criticism, saying, “I only felt that I could truly do this story justice if I approached it with the eye of a curious woman who was interested in possessing a journalistic spirit so that I could read between the lines of what was happening in the film’s scenes … Meaning that nobody was going to tell me who Patrizia Gucci was … Not even Patrizia Gucci.”

After months of silence, Scott himself finally (and briefly) addressed the Gucci family’s dissatisfaction on BBC Radio 4 Today. “I don’t engage with that,” said Scott. “You have to remember that one Gucci was murdered and another went to jail for tax evasion so you can’t be talking to me about making a profit. As soon as you do that you become part of the public domain.”