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Audrey Hepburn's Son Sean Hepburn Ferrer Vindicated By Court Decision
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