Francis Ford Coppola is going to the mattresses against Variety with a $15 million libel lawsuit, a nasty bit of business that’s probably more about the “Godfather” director clearing his name of misconduct allegations than anything else, legal experts tell TheWrap.
Odds are long for the case to ever make trial, let alone succeed, as California is among the toughest states for libel cases, First Amendment attorneys agree. But Coppola’s personal motivations and the media’s extreme allergy to issuing retractions will likely meet in some back-alley arena. And a settlement could involve embarrassing editorial concessions from the trade that has been better known in its 118 years for cozying up to Hollywood heavies than tearing them down.