Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund Fights to Continue Charitable Work

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 08, 2017 -- The Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund today filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the actress’ eldest son Sean Ferrer, claiming he’s interfering with the charity’s work for his own benefit.

The Fund raises money for children’s charities with exhibits of Audrey Hepburn memorabilia based largely around a collection of extraordinary gowns designed by world-renowned fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy and worn by Hepburn.

At issue is the right for the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund to continue using Audrey Hepburn’s name, likeness and image (“the Hepburn IP”) in connection with exhibitions of her memorabilia to raise money to provide support for children in need.

If Ferrer isn’t stopped, he will “interfere with and prevent” the Fund from honoring Hepburn’s memory by providing support for children’s charities, the suit says. As a result, it says the Fund will be unable to meet its existing charitable obligations and commitments, will be unable to conduct business, and will “completely lose its reputation and credibility.”

“Sean should be ashamed of himself for violating his mother’s deepest wishes to care for children,” says the Fund’s attorney, Steven E. Young, a Partner at Freeman, Freeman & Smiley LLP in Los Angeles.

During Hepburn’s lifetime, she worked tirelessly to raise money for various children’s charities and remains an “iconic figure for both her work on screen and as a champion for children’s causes,” the suit says. Her two sons Luca Dotti and Ferrer, along with Robert Wolders, created the non-profit Hollywood for Children, Inc. to honor Hepburn’s memory in 1993, the year she passed away. It was later renamed the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, based in Pasadena, CA.

According to Board Member Wolders who was Audrey’s life partner for 13 years and who accompanied her on all her UNICEF missions, “If there is anything she (Hepburn) would have wished for it is that her work be continued.”

In addition to her dedication to serving children, Hepburn received two Academy Awards (“Oscars”), five additional Oscar nominations, an Emmy, a Grammy, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and numerous other awards.

Ferrer is “maliciously and intentionally” interfering with “fundraising activities on behalf of children’s causes,” the suit says. Ferrer’s actions will “irreparably damage the sterling reputation of the late Audrey Hepburn.”

In 2013 and 2016, Ferrer delayed or stopped exhibitions in Australia and South Korea. This January, Ferrer threatened through his Swiss lawyer to sue a Chinese exhibitor to block multiple shows of Hepburn’s memorabilia in 2017 and 2018. Ferrer’s actions were taken “for the sole purpose of harming the Fund” and preventing it from helping children’s charities, the suit says.

Starting in 2008, Ferrer began to suffer a “personal financial crisis” and began to “actively interfere” with the Fund, the suit says.

Dotti, Chairman of the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, is seeking to continue his mother’s legacy and keep the Fund operating to benefit children’s charities. He is a New York Times best selling author who donated the royalties to the Fund from his latest book, “Audrey At Home,” as well as a previous book, “Audrey in Rome.”

After convincing Dotti to become Fund Chairman, Ferrer stepped down from the Board and resigned as Chairman. Thereafter, the suit says, Ferrer “purported to terminate the right of the Fund to use the Hepburn IP for fundraising purposes.”

The suit says Hubert de Givenchy donated certain gowns to the Fund in 2002, but Ferrer attempted to have Givenchy “backdate and falsify a letter” revoking the donation of gowns to the Fund. Givenchy “refused to do so,” the suit says.

Even though he is no longer affiliated with the Fund, “Ferrer seeks to entirely control, limit and prohibit the Fund from using the Hepburn IP unless it is willing to pay a significant portion of the fundraising proceeds to Ferrer or as directed by him to preclude the Fund from utilizing the Hepburn IP altogether,” the suit says.

Ferrer’s actions also included taking control of the Fund’s hosting account, which manages its domains and emails, by changing its password, and registering “Hollywoodforchildren.com and .org” without obtaining the Fund’s consent, the suit says.

The suit was filed in Superior Court of the State of California County of Los Angeles, Central District. The plaintiff is Hollywood for Children, Inc. dba The Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund. The defendant is Sean Ferrer, Hepburn’s eldest son with Mel Ferrer, an American actor, director, and producer. Ferrer lives in Florence, Italy and has a residence in California. Luca Dotti, who lives in Rome, is the son of Hepburn and Professor Andrea Dotti, a prominent Italian psychiatrist.

Contact:

Steven E. Young, Partner
Freeman, Freeman & Smiley LLP
[email protected]
(310) 255-6174