Ana de Armas Fans Settle False Advertising Lawsuit Over ‘Yesterday’ Trailer
Two men have settled their lawsuit with Universal Pictures following a two-year legal battle after they claimed they were misled into believing Ana de Armas would be in Yesterday because the actress was initially featured in a trailer for the film.
The two men — Peter Michael Rosza and Conor Woulfe — accepted a settlement on Friday, though the terms of the of lawsuit were not disclosed, according to Variety.
The suit, originally filed for false advertisement, unjust enrichment, and violation of unfair competition, noted that “such consumers were not provided with any value for their rental or purchase.” The plantiffs said that when they watched the trailer for Yesterday they thought that de Armas played a substantial role in the Beatles-themed romantic comedy, but when they rented it on Amazon Prime for $3.99 each, they discovered that she doesn’t show up in the movie.
According to Variety, neither party was happy with the outcome of the lawsuit since Universal believed it spent two years and thousands of dollars on a meaningless lawsuit, while the plaintiffs claimed the California courts favor Hollywood studios.
Back in August, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson tossed a class action lawsuit, writing that Rosza and Woulfe couldn’t pursue their proposed class action because they didn’t rely on these alleged misrepresentations when deciding to watch the film. Wilson, however, found that trailers are “commercial speech” and subject to false advertising laws. The class action lawsuit argued that anyone who bought tickets to the movie or rented it had been misled by Universal.
De Armas was cast as a love interest for lead actor Himesh Patel, but her scenes were cut in the final version of the film after test screenings. The trailer very briefly showcased her and Patel on the set of James Corden’s talk show. Screenwriter Richard Curtis addressed the cuts in an interview in 2019, saying, “That was a very traumatic cut, because she was brilliant in it.”