Do we like Francis Ford Coppola?
Our score: 6 out of 10. Nothing harmful found in his own words, but the set allegations are unresolved and the record we could check is thin.
Coppola is the bloke behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, and in April 2025 the American Film Institute gave him its 50th Life Achievement Award, with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg presenting. He is a proper giant of the form, and that is the backdrop to everything else here.
The mess that follows him now is Megalopolis, his self-funded sci-fi epic. Days before its Cannes premiere in May 2024, The Guardian reported that he had allegedly tried to kiss topless or scantily clad extras and made women sit on his lap. Euronews, summarising it, said the sources described a chaotic set. His executive co-producer said he was never aware of any complaints, and described cheek kisses and hugs as a way to set the mood.
Coppola's own answer was vague. Asked about it in a New York Times interview, he said “I'm not touchy-feely” and “I'm too shy”, which AV Club read as a loose denial rather than a direct answer. That is where his side of it sits.
In September 2024 an extra named in the coverage, Lauren Pagone, sued him in Fulton County, Georgia, alleging civil assault and battery over a club scene shot in February 2023. The suit alleged he kissed her cheek and touched her body without consent. Her suit also names his production company and two casting agencies. His lawyer said there was nothing to say at the time, and another woman seen in the footage denied any misconduct. I found no ruling in her case. It is an allegation, not a finding.
Coppola then sued Variety for libel over its own story on the set. In September 2026 a California appeals court reversed the lower court and threw the suit out. As reported, it found Coppola did not dispute kissing some extras in that scene, and that other parts of the story were opinion or lacked evidence of falsity. That ruling was about his libel claim only; it did not decide whether the allegations are true.
On the harm test, the honest answer is that I found nothing. No campaigning against LGBTQ+ or trans people, no anti-vax or climate-denial material, no grievance rabbit hole in what I read. The record I could check is thin, so this is a clean sheet rather than a glowing one.