In a complaint filed on Wednesday in a New York court, actress Julia Ormond, renowned for “Legends of the Fall” and “Sabrina,” accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse, saying that the former film producer forced her to perform him oral sex during a business meeting in 1995.
Ms. Ormond also sued Creative Artists Agency, which represented her at the time, alleging in the lawsuit that two of its top agents advised her not to come out — and warned her of the “going rate” for settlements given to women who accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual misconduct. She said that the cash was $100,000.
Ms. Ormond’s lawyers said her case was the first to sue CAA for what the suit contends was CAA’s involvement in covering up and encouraging Mr. Weinstein’s behaviour.
Mr. Weinstein, now 71, was convicted of rape and criminal sexual assault by a New York jury in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He was eventually convicted of identical offences in Los Angeles and sentenced to 16 years in prison, which he will spend following his sentence in New York. Mr. Weinstein has disputed the allegations, claiming that all of his meetings were consensual, and is appealing both verdicts.
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“Harvey Weinstein categorically denies the allegations made against him by Julia Ormond, and he is prepared to vehemently defend himself,” said Mr. Weinstein’s lawyer, Imran H. Ansari. Mr. Ansari went on to say that the case was “yet another example of a complaint filed against Mr. Weinstein after decades have passed.”
Ms. Ormond’s accusations were termed “baseless” by CAA, who promised to “vigorously refute them in court.”
A CAA spokesperson stated in a statement that a lawyer representing Ms. Ormond contacted the agency in March and requested for $15 million in return for Ms. Ormond not making the claims against CAA public. According to the statement, the demand was denied.
“Knowing these allegations to be untrue, the agency then retained attorney Loretta Lynch and her law firm, Paul Weiss, to defend the company,” claimed the statement. “Their review found nothing to support Ms. Ormond’s claims against CAA.”
“CAA admits that they hired Loretta Lynch to ‘defend’ them,” Douglas Wigdor, Ms. Ormond’s lawyer, wrote in response to CAA’s statement via email. “It’s not surprising, therefore, that she found nothing to support our client’s claims.” He said, “Rest assured, we will expose the real facts.”
The Walt Disney Company and Miramax, which Disney held from 1993 until 2010, were also mentioned in Ms. Ormond’s case, which was filed in New York Supreme Court. Ms. Ormond alleged the corporations were also aware of Mr. Weinstein’s predatory behaviour but failed to protect her from him.
Disney did not respond to a request for comment. Miramax, which is now partly controlled by Paramount Global, did not reply to demands for comment.
CAA arranged a two-year production arrangement between Ms. Ormond and Miramax, according to the lawsuit. She alleges Mr. Weinstein sexually attacked her following a business dinner in 1995. According to the claim, Mr Weinstein said that he would only discuss a project she was interested in at the flat supplied by Miramax as part of her arrangement.
According to the lawsuit, Mr Weinstein undressed nude in the flat and compelled Ms Ormond to have oral sex with him.
According to the lawsuit, Ms Ormond informed her agents, Bryan Lourd, now the CEO of CAA, and Kevin Huvane, now a co-chairman of the agency, about what had happened.
“Rather than take Ormond’s side and advocate for her interest, they suggested that if she reported Weinstein to the authorities, she would not be believed, and he would seriously damage her career,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Ms. Ormond did not take further action, but Mr. Weinstein terminated her contract at Miramax. According to the complaint, CAA also reassigned her to a younger, less experienced agent, reducing her career opportunities.
Ms. Ormond said in a statement that her complaint was a “way to shed light on how powerful people and institutions, like my talent agents at CAA, Miramax, and Disney, enabled and provided cover for Weinstein to assault me and countless others.”
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