The entire premise of Yesterday is that the Beatles have been erased from existence. But for some viewers, the 2019 movie went too far when it also cut Ana de Armas out of the world. Variety reports that two fans have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Universal Pictures, claiming that they were tricked because the Knives Out actress appeared in the trailer for the movie, which she was edited out of completely. The lawsuit alleges that the marketing for Yesterday was “false, misleading, and deceptive,†and accuses Universal of using de Armas’s “fame, radiance, and brilliance to promote the film.â€
Renowned stan account Ana de Armas Updates was quick to weigh in on the news of the lawsuit, tweeting, “at least I’m not to blame this time.†So who is? There are actually two plaintiffs: 38-year-old Conor Woulfe from Maryland and 44-year-old Peter Michael Rosza from California. They both paid $3.99 to watch Yesterday on Amazon Prime, but the lawsuit is seeking at least $5 million because it’s being filed on behalf of everyone who was affected.
Originally, de Armas was set to star in the film as Roxanne, a potential love interest for Yesterday lead Himesh Patel. Writer Richard Curtis described the decision to Cinema Blend in 2019 as a “traumatic cut,†noting that her removal also meant taking out a scene of Patel serenading her with George Harrison’s “Something.†Ultimately, writers felt that Roxanne distracted from the main romance of the film. So, like Ben Affleck’s cardboard cutout of de Armas, it had to go.