"House of Gucci" opens in theaters Friday.
Lady Gaga has been on a worldwide trek promoting her new film, “House of Gucci,” which is in theaters this week. She spoke to “Good Morning America” Tuesday and explained why she didn’t want to meet the real woman she portrayed.
Lady Gaga leads an all-star cast, including Adam Driver, Al Pacino and Salma Hayek, in Ridley Scott’s true crime biopic, “House of Gucci,” based off Sara Gay Forden’s acclaimed best-seller on the Gucci fashion empire and the murder than shocked the fashion world.
In the film, Gaga portrays Patrizia Reggiani, who served 16 years in prison for hiring a hit man to murder her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci, outside his office in Milan, Italy, in March 1995.
Gaga, who is known for taking her art and acting very serious, told the morning news show that she didn’t want to meet Reggiani, who was dubbed by the Italian tabloids as “Vedova Nera,” which means “the Black Widow.”
"I didn't want to meet her because I could tell very quickly that this woman wanted to be glorified for this murder," Gaga said. "And she wanted to be remembered as this criminal."
Gaga added that she didn’t want to meet the woman also because, “I didn't want to collude with something I don't believe in…She did have her husband murdered."
There has been a war of words between Reggiani since it was announced the “Born This Way” singer would portray her on screen.
Reggiani told an Italian journalist that she was "quite annoyed by the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without even having the foresight and sensitivity to come and meet me,” according to British Vogue.
When asked about Reggiani’s claim in an interview with British Vogue, Gaga said, “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."
Reggiani has always been a polarizing figure in Italy and during her marriage to Gucci, she was dubbed the “Liz Taylor of Luxury Labels” due to her love of high-end fashion. However, getting caught two years after her husband’s death with the murder-for-hire plot, she became a tabloid sensation.
What the O.J. Simpson trial was to America just years before, the trial of Patrizia Reggiani was to Italy.
During the 1998 trial, it was learned that Reggiani hired three accomplices to kill her ex-husband. The accomplices included a friend, who helped find the hitman, and a getaway driver Reggiani used and hired, Harper's Bazaar reported.
Reggiani’s diaries were also brought into trial as evidence. There, everything about the crime was mapped out.
Reggiani was convicted of ordering Maurizo's murder and sentenced to 29 years in prison. The gunman was sentenced to life in prison, the getaway driver was sentenced to 29 years in prison, and her friend who coordinated everything was sentenced to 25 years.
Reggiani maintained her innocence throughout the trial and claimed that she was set up by her friend.
After serving 16 years in prison, Reggiani was released on a work release program, which required her getting a job and carrying out volunteer work, according to Harper’s Bazaar. In 2016, she was released on good behavior.
In 2014, an Italian news crew met with Reggiani and asked, “Patrizia, why did you hire a hitman to kill Maurizio Gucci? Why didn’t you shoot him yourself?”
“My eyesight is not so good,” she replied. “I didn’t want to miss.”
