Director Ridley Scott had a busy year in 2021 when he directed two films based on true stories. One was the historical drama The Last Duel, which used the ‘Roshomon Effect’ to show a crime committed in medieval France. It starred Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer in lead roles.
Scott also directed the film House of Gucci, which was based on the assassination of Gucci heir Maurizio Gucci at the hands of his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani. Driver reunited with Scott in the film, playing Gucci, while Lady Gaga was cast as Reggiani. In a recent documentary, Reggiani, who was convicted for the murder of her ex-husband, revealed the true story behind the assassination.
What Was Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci About?
Based on the novel by Sarah Gay Forden, House of Gucci has been in development since the early 2000s when Ridley Scott wanted to make a film based on the fall of the Gucci dynasty. He was rumored to be making the film with Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie as Maurizio Gucci and Patrizia Reggiani respectively.
The story was based on the infamous assassination of Gucci, which was orchestrated by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani, who was played by Lady Gaga. Maurizio Gucci was shot to death by a hitman when he arrived for work in March 1995. Reggiani was arrested on suspicion and was then convicted of the murder, being sentenced to 29 years in prison after a highly publicized trial.
Reggiani reportedly hired the hitman through her psychic friend Giuseppina Auriemma. She was accused of being jealous of her ex-husband’s impending second marriage and was reportedly concerned about her daughters’ inheritance after Gucci’s marriage.
Patrizia Reggiani And Maurizio Gucci’s Troubled Marriage
In a Discovery+ documentary Lady Gucci: The Story of Patrizia Reggiani, Patrizia Reggiani revealed the relationship she shared with Maurizio Gucci and the circumstances around his assassination in 1995. Reggiani was convicted of the murder in 1998. The pair reportedly married in 1972 after falling in love. Though the Gucci family patriarch Rodolfo Gucci was against the marriage, fearing that Reggiani was just a social climber, he eventually gave in and even gifted the couple a penthouse apartment in New York. The pair also had two daughters, Alessandra and Allegra.
In Lady Gucci: The Story of Patrizia Reggiani, she spoke about the first time that problems started arising between the two in the marriage. She said,
“The first crisis with Maurizio was when he packed his bags and left. Then, I was lost. I had a huge house and two children. I was in shock. All this love turned to hate…I have to say he disappointed me. The disappointment grew from the weaknesses he showed me.”
Gucci reportedly said that the marriage was over and that he never asked for a divorce until he started seeing Paula Franchi. He allegedly asked for a divorce as he intended to marry her, which causes concern for Reggiani. After the divorce, Reggiani reportedly received an alimony of $1 million, which she described as a ‘bowl of lentils’.
What Did Patrizia Reggiani Reveal About Maurizio Gucci’s Murder?
In the documentary Lady Gucci: The Story of Patrizia Reggiani, Patrizia Reggiani revealed that she felt Maurizio Gucci had started to ignore his daughters as he was spending time with Paula Franchi, whom she called ‘the other woman’. She also mentioned that Gucci had four houses, none of which he intended to leave for his daughters with Reggiani. This was a great concern for Reggiani.
She mentioned that she was angry at Gucci for not taking care of her daughters and ignoring them, saying,
“I was angry at Maurizio because I already knew that, as the weak person that he was, if I wouldn’t be there to guide him, he would be lost…My thought was: I am protecting my daughters. Maurizio was cutting us out…I went around asking the butcher and so on, ‘Is anyone here brave enough to kill my husband?’”
Reggiani later hired Benedetto Ceraulo, an owner of a pizzeria to commit the deed. Reggiani famously never addressed herself as divorced and throughout her trial kept reportedly acknowledging Gucci as her husband. Lady Gaga famously did not meet Reggiani before accepting the role in Ridley Scott’s film on the incident.
