Audrey Hepburn's eldest son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, prevailed in a lawsuit 
brought against him by a charitable organization he established in 1993 to 
advance his mother's philanthropic efforts. After a four-week court trial in 
Los Angeles Superior Court, the judge, the Honorable David Sotelo, found that 
there was no merit to the charity's claims that it had the independent right to 
use Audrey Hepburn's name and likeness, or to enter into contracts with third 
parties without Ferrer's consent.

In February 2017, California-based Hollywood for Children (HFC) -- whose 
three-member board is composed of Ferrer's half-brother - Luca Dotti, Ferrer's 
former attorney - Paul Alberghetti, and a former assistant - sued Ferrer and 
sought to establish that it had separate enduring rights to use Audrey 
Hepburn's name and likeness without Ferrer's consent, even though Ferrer (with 
his brother) are the sole owners of her intellectual property rights. HFC also 
sought in excess of US$6 million dollars in damages from Ferrer for his alleged 
interference with agreements that HFC entered into with third parties, 
allegedly permitting them to engage in the use of Audrey Hepburn's name and 
likeness without Ferrer's consent. The Court found that HFC never had the 
independent right to use Miss Hepburn's name and likeness, other than as part 
of its dba: "The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund." Thus, the Court found that 
HFC's actions, entering into contracts with third parties without Ferrer's 
consent, exceeded its rights and were unlawful. By virtue of finding in 
Ferrer's favor, the Court also found that there was no legal basis for HFC's 
claim for interference with contract and therefore ruled in Ferrer's favor on 
HFC's damage claim as a matter of law, declining to permit that claim go to 
trial. 

Ferrer's lead trial counsel, Lawrence Segal, said, "It was always clear to me 
that HFC took improper liberties, far beyond any limited permission to use the 
intellectual property rights that Sean may have previously allowed them in the 
past. They became self-entitled and started to act as if they were the owners 
of the rights, instead of Sean and his brother. HFC tried to usurp Sean's 
control over his own mother's name and likeness. It demonstrates a certain 
level of audacity when Sean had granted HFC permission in the past to use the 
Audrey Hepburn intellectual property for limited fund-raising purposes and on a 
case by case basis, and then to find that HFC had stopped asking for permission 
and started financially exploiting rights which it does not own or control. The 
Court found that HFC never had a license or independent right in the Audrey 
Hepburn name and likeness at any point in time, and the entirety of what HFC 
claimed and asserted in its lawsuit against Sean was rejected by the Court. 
Sean prevailed on all counts."

Upon learning of the Court's decision, Sean Hepburn Ferrer stated, "after 
having been vilified in public court filings and press releases, the truth has 
finally emerged. When I formed Hollywood for Children back in 1993, it was with 
the best intention to continue our mother's humanitarian efforts which has 
become a family culture. After resigning from Hollywood for Children in 2012, I 
asked my brother to take its helm. I then became the honorary Chair of the 
Audrey Hepburn Society at the US Fund for UNICEF which, as its President Caryl 
Stern testified to, went on to raise in excess of US$150,000,000 for children 
worldwide. Nevertheless, when my brother Luca refused to continue to grant the 
Society a license, we had to close it. If one reviews Hollywood For Children's 
990 tax returns, which are available online, it appears as though this case was 
never about charity. To have one's own brother and former attorney turn on you, 
each for their own opportunistic reasons, made this entire experience one of 
the darkest of my life. The headlines basically read 'Audrey Hepburn (Charity) 
sues her son.' I spent a lifetime on the 'straight and narrow' and to have been 
questioned to this extent was a test. Is it a victory? Considering what was at 
stake and the people involved, I am more relieved than victorious. Hopefully, I 
can now get back to what counts: continuing our mother's legacy of grace and 
humanity."

The suit was originally filed in February of 2017 and Judge Sotelo heard final 
arguments in July. The Honorable David Sotelo's nine-page Statement of Decision 
in this non-jury trial and can be found here ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2658610-1&h=1734561899&u=http%3A%2F%2Fbc649828.com%2F&a=here 
).  

SOURCE: Sean Hepburn Ferrer

CONTACT: Howard Bragman, +1 310.508.3700, Howard@LaBrea.Media