Cuban actress Livia Brito has been linked to a criminal process for the alleged crime of false declarations before authorities, stemming from an assault on a photographer in 2020. The incident took place on a Cancun beach and has led to a protracted legal battle now progressing with new hearings. The judicial ruling revokes a prior injunction and opens the door to penalties of up to eight years in prison.
The dispute between actress Livia Brito and photographer Ernesto Zepeda dates back to June 2020, when Zepeda captured images of Brito and her then-partner, Yosmi Mariano Gedler Martínez, on a Cancun beach in Quintana Roo. According to Zepeda's account, upon being spotted, Brito slapped him and Gedler punched him in the face, leaving a permanent scar and damaging his photographic equipment. "They were Livia Brito and her boyfriend (…) in the last photo, she turned and saw me (…) she came yelling at me and slapped me (…) her boyfriend arrived and immediately gave me a punch on my right cheekbone," Zepeda recounted in 2020 to Sale el Sol.
Brito maintains that Zepeda invaded her privacy during a personal moment. "Taking photographs of me or anyone else, in a public place, private place, wherever without consent, is a violation of intimacy and is considered a crime (…) I defended my right to personal intimacy," she stated in 2024.
The civil proceedings culminated in a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in June 2025, requiring Brito and Gedler to pay approximately 1.2 million pesos in moral damages. In 2024, Brito withdrew an injunction after agreeing to repair the harm, but in January 2026, Magistrate Jesús Ubando López ordered her linkage to process for false declarations, as she denied the assault despite evidence and witnesses. The Seventh Penal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Mexico City revoked the prior non-linkage on February 4, 2026.
The complaint was filed in 2024 by Zepeda and his lawyer Ángela Frías. Under the Federal Penal Code, this offense can result in four to eight years in prison if intent is proven. The next hearing is scheduled for February 23, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. in the Reclusorio Preventivo Varonil Sur, where the investigation's progress will be reviewed. To date, Brito has not issued a public statement on the recent ruling.
