House Of Gucci True Story & Real-Life Scandal Explained

Ridley Scott's House of Gucci tells the true story of the Gucci family, but how much of the scandal in the movie actually happened in real life? The almost three-hour-long movie is based on the biographical book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden, and was clearly intended as a major Oscar contender despite garnering only one nomination. Perhaps surprisingly, the real-life story that inspired House of Gucci had as many twists and turns as one would expect from a movie, not the real world.

House of Gucci focuses on the Gucci family business starting from the 70s, following the jet-set couple Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) and Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) from the beginning of their relationship. The first half of House of Gucci focuses mostly on the couple, then integrates their relationship into the rest of the family workings, showing Gaga’s Patrizia very keen on convincing Driver’s Maurizio to be part of the family business. Finally, it ends in the year 1995.

House of Gucci focuses as much on Patrizia and Maurizio's love story and split as it does on the company. The real-life scandal that ensued after Maurizio's assassination in 1995, which profoundly shook Italian society at the time, is the center of attention of the movie. But the company and its greatness play a significant part in it, as well as how it has fared in recent decades. While many of the details shared in House of Gucci reflect what happened in real life, some things were left out or happened differently in reality.

Patrizia Never Worked For Her Father's Company (& Neither Did Maurizio)

Lady Gaga's first House of Gucci scene as Patrizia Reggiani shows her walking to work, which would have been her father's transport company, where she worked as an accountant. Real-life Patrizia Reggiani, though, did not work there. Upon being offered a pardon from prison on a work-release program in 2011, Reggiani told the judge, "I've never worked in my life; I won't start now." The true story is that Reggiani had been rather spoiled her whole life and, according to her own words then, had never held a job.

House of Gucci also shows Driver's Maurizio Gucci working at Patrizia's father's company for some time as his own father is against his union with Patrizia. However, this isn't quite the true story. While Maurizio's father, Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons), disowned him in real life, too, Maurizio never worked for Ferdinando Reggiani. The first hour of House of Gucci focuses on Adam Driver's Maurizio being reluctant to deal with his family, who pushes him to be part of the company. Meanwhile, Gaga's Patrizia plots with Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino) to convince Maurizio to work for the family. In reality, Maurizio started working for Gucci of his own accord in 1972.

Patrizia Never Forged Rodolfo's Signature On His Gucci Shares

After the death of Rodolfo in House of Gucci, lawyer Domenico de Sole (Jack Huston) can be seen talking with Maurizio and Patrizia about the inheritance. With Rodolfo’s shares, Maurizio would have been Gucci's majority shareholder, but because Rodolfo never signed the paperwork, Maurizio would have had to pay a hefty inheritance tax. House of Gucci implies Patrizia took care of it by forging Rodolfo's signature.

In real life, Maurizio was not only suspected of forging Rodolfo's signature but was also tried and found guilty of the crime. Like in the movie, he fled to Saint Moritz before being imprisoned, but the true story is that he was the one who had been investigated by the authorities, not Patrizia. Maurizio was later acquitted of the charge, brought forward by his cousin Paolo (Jared Leto).

Maurizio Worked At Gucci Long Before Domenico De Sole Joined

In House of Gucci, De Sole is shown to have worked at the company long before Maurizio even considered joining. De Sole can be seen at all the Gucci family functions, especially looking over Paolo and working closely with Rodolfo. In real life, though, De Sole had had the Gucci family as a client for years, helping them through their restructuring. At Rodolfo's urging, De Sole later joined the Gucci company, but he did so only in 1984, 12 years after Maurizio started in the family business.

House of Gucci Left Out Allegra Gucci

Alessandra Gucci's birth marks an important moment in the movie's story, as it happens around the same time Driver's Maurizio begins to work for the family business. Not only that, her birth is a cause for reconciliation between Rodolfo and Maurizio over Patrizia, with the young Alessandra appearing in many scenes where multiple members of the House of Gucci cast interact with one another. In real life, Alessandra was also to thank for the reconciliation between Rodolfo and Maurizio, but she wasn't the only daughter born to Maurizio and Patrizia. In 1981, they had another daughter, Allegra Gucci, but she was not portrayed and never mentioned in the movie.

Gucci's Handbag Launch Was Disrupted, Not A Fashion Show

In a ploy to kick Aldo out of the company, House of Gucci depicts Maurizio and Patrizia's plotting against him with his son Paolo, who knew of Aldo's tax evasion in the U.S. To get Paolo to turn on his father, they promised him his own line, but when he finally got his fashion show, it was disrupted by the police. The financial police cited copyright issues and the unlawful practice of using the name Gucci without having the right to do so.

The true story is that it wasn't a fashion show that was stopped like in House of Gucci but a handbag launch. Paolo Gucci had been given a chance to design a handbag collection, but Maurizio reneged on the copyright the day before the launch. When Paolo opened the shop for the handbags' launch, with customers present, the police stopped him from presenting the collection. The legal disputes with the family company and in-fighting continued for many years after that betrayal.

Patrizia Actually Met Pina While Vacationing

In Ridley Scott's House of Gucci, Patrizia can be seen calling her future psychic and friend Pina (Salma Hayek) while the latter is working on live television. However, that was not what happened in real life. Patrizia, along with Maurizio, met Pina in Ischia while on vacation. The true story is changed for the movie but in real life, Patrizia and Pina had been longtime friends before organizing the meeting for the hit to be placed on Maurizio Gucci, booking Ivano Savioni and Benedetto Ceraulo as hitmen.

Maurizio Was Shot On The Steps Of His Office Building – Not On A Bike

One of the scenes in House of Gucci's ending depicts Maurizio's murder. In the scene, he's biking around Quartiere Coppedé in Rome when someone draws his attention by calling out, "Doctor Gucci!" before pulling the trigger. In real life, however, Maurizio wasn't riding a bike at the time of his assassination, nor did it happen in Rome. The true story changed for House of Gucci is that he was gunned down over the steps of his office building, and it happened in Milan. Moreover, on the day the hit took place, Patrizia's diary had only one entry that said "paradise" in Greek, rather than Italian, as the movie showed.

Why House Of Gucci Was Snubbed At The Oscars

Despite its stacked cast, dark and glamorous story, and high production value, House of Gucci was snubbed across the board at the 2022 Oscars. It was nominated for one Academy Award, Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling, but ultimately lost (understandably) to another movie based on real life, The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Lady Gaga missed out on Best Actress, however, and House of Gucci did not rank among the films up for Best Picture, as seems to have been its intention. The reasons behind these snubs aren't exactly clear, though it could be that House of Gucci's length held it back a little. Ultimately, the 2022 Oscars were full of very strong contenders in almost every category, so the most likely explanation is that House of Gucci, while a solid film, simply wasn't able to hold its own against the likes of The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, and King Richard.

Next: Why House of Gucci's Reviews Are So Mixed