Extra In Francis Ford Coppola Video Claims He Was Respectful

The controversy surrounding Francis Ford Coppola’s alleged inappropriate behavior on the set of his upcoming film Megalopolis has taken a fascinating turn as one Hollywood publication is accusing another of fabricating a story for clicks. Those websites, Deadline and Variety, two staples of entertainment journalism, are both owned by the same company.

Last Friday, July 26, a video of iconic director Francis Ford Coppola seemingly kissing a female extra on the set of the film Megalopolis was obtained and published by Variety, with the website stating that sources told them Coppola was “unprofessional” and “acted with impunity” on the set.

“The sources claim that Coppola’s behavior was unprofessional. One source who was on the set during the nightclub scene estimated that between 150 to 200 people were assembled, including background actors and crew as Coppola started directing the scene,” Variety reported. “The filmmaker kept leaping up to hug and kiss several women, often inadvertently inserting himself into the shot and ruining it, which the source said was unusual.”

On Tuesday, July 30, however, Deadline published a counter to Variety‘s reporting and accused them of clickbaiting. Deadline even spoke with the woman in the video, Rayna Menz, who denied that Coppola acted unprofessional toward her.

“He did nothing to make me or for that matter anyone on set feel uncomfortable,” Menz said. “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.”

Menz also posted a similar statement to her Instagram account, saying “none of the claims [in the] misleading headline” are true and that she’s “disgusted by the allegations” made against Coppola, hoping “everyone will see the truth for what it is.”

In addition to sniping at Variety — “Our sister publication Variety last Friday published for clicks what it called an exclusive video of Francis Ford Coppola kissing Megalopolis extras… The story did not get much traction,” they wrote of the report — Deadline also took aim at The Hollywood Reporter, another of the industry’s leading outlets (all three of Deadline, Variety, and THR being owned by the same company is another story of another day).

“This was just the latest in a trail of surprisingly aggressive reports, including one by our other sister trade, THR, which used Coppola letting go some below the liners to fuel a report that his production was out of control,” Deadline wrote. “One wonders why journos are working so hard trying to tarnish one of the greatest living filmmakers America has produced, at a time when he is grieving the loss of his wife.”

Coppola’s wife Eleanor, the director of the famed Apocalypse Now documentary Heart of Darkness, passed away in April at the age of 87 years old.

Megalopolis, which faced an uphill battle to be distributed before being recently acquired by Lionsgate, is scheduled to hit movie theaters on September 27. The film, famously self-funded by Coppola to the tune of $120 million, stars Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman

Coppola, 85 years old, is widely considered to be one of the greatest American filmmakers in the history of cinema, having directed iconic films such as The Godfather trilogy, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Check out the teaser trailer for Coppola’s newest and likely final film, Megalopolis, below.