There’s a lot of faults to Yesterday, the 2019 musical rom-com that imagined a world in which The Beatles never existed. But of all the reasons to gripe about it, two fans chose a really strange one to bring to court against Universal Pictures: The fact that Ana De Armas‘ scenes were cut from the film.
The fans in question, Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza, filed a consumer protection class action lawsuit alleging “deceptive, and misleading advertising.” Apparently, trailers for the film led them to believe that De Armas had a major role, which was ultimately taken out of the film before it hit streaming. Woulfe and Rosza evidently spent about $8 total to watch the film, which — as their lawsuit implies — was wasted due to De Armas’ absence.
Though Yesterday‘s main love interest, Lily James, is arguably pretty well-known, the suit accuses Universal of using De Armas’ star power only as a ploy to pull ticket and streaming sales. (Lest we forget that Ed Sheeran, one of the most famous singer-songwriters in the world right now, also had an inexplicable cameo in the film.)
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“Unable to rely on fame of the actors playing Jack Malik or Ellie to maximize ticket and movie sales and rentals, Defendant consequently used Ms. De Armas’s fame, radiance and brilliance to promote the film by including her scenes in the movie trailers advertising Yesterday,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit also seeks damages and “all money obtained from Plaintiff and the other members of the Class collected as a result of Defendant’s unfair competition, and for an injunction prohibiting Defendant from continuing and further engaging in its unlawful, unfair and fraudulent conduct, requiring corrective advertising, and awarding all other relief this Court deems appropriate.”
In the official Yesterday trailer, which you can revisit below, De Armas is seen for less than five seconds over the course of three minutes. It was reported upon the film’s release that her character, an actress who briefly catches the attention of the protagonist (Himesh Patel), was cut to avoid threatening an existing relationship.
To paraphrase Yesterday’s plot: This lawsuit makes us wish we could get hit by a bus and forget it ever happened. If you simply must see De Armas in action, she recently appeared in the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die.
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