Gucci heiress who ordered husband’s murder criticises Lady Gaga for not meeting her ahead of portrayal

Patrizia Reggiani, an Italian heiress who ordered her husband’s murder, has criticised Lady Gaga for not meeting her ahead of portraying her in "House of Gucci."

The Ridley Scott crime film stars Lady Gaga as the former wife of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), who was the head of the Gucci fashion house in the Eighties.

Reggiani was convicted in 1998 of ordering her former husband’s murder. Gucci was shot dead in 1995 outside his office in Milan. The pair had split in 1985.

Reggiani was sentenced to 29 years in prison, later reduced to 26 years on appeal. She was released in 2016 and told The Observer in a profile that same year: “I think I am a very strong person because I survived all these years in captivity. I slept a lot. I took care of my plants. I looked after Bambi, my pet ferret.”

She added on the same topic: “I don’t like to talk about this time at all. It is all a bad dream to me.”

In a new interview with Ansa, Italy’s national news agency, she said: “I’m annoyed by the fact that Lady Gaga is portraying me in the new Ridley Scott film without even having the courtesy or the good sense to come and meet me.”

The 72-year-old continued: “It’s nothing to do with money because I won’t be taking a single cent from the film. It’s about common sense and respect. I believe that any good actor should first get to know the person that they are meant to be playing.

“I think it is not right that I wasn’t contacted. And I say this with all the sympathy and appreciation that I have for her.”

The film is due to be released in November, with the cast including Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Jack Huston and Jared Leto.

The film is based on the 2012 book “The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed” by Sara Gay Forden.

House of Gucci is scheduled for release in the US on 24 November 2021, with this year marking the 100th anniversary of the creation of the fashion house.