Julia Ormond Sues Disney and CAA Over Harvey Weinstein Attacks – IndieWire
Actress Julia Ormond has filed a lawsuit to get to the “root cause” of systemic abuses in Hollywood.
The “Legends of the Fall” star is suing CAA, The Walt Disney Company and Miramax for alleged complicity in mega-producer Harvey Weinstein’s attack on her. Ormond is also suing Weinstein for assault.
“I’m coming forward with my story publicly now because I feel like we still need systemic change, and I feel like we need the accountability of those leading the way to get there,” Ormond said diversity, who first reported the news. “I feel like that’s exactly what happened to me.”
Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape in New York and faces an additional 60 years in prison after being found guilty of three rape charges in Los Angeles. Ormond’s lawsuit is filed under the Adult Survivors Act, which applies outside the statute of limitations. The lawsuit was filed in New York Supreme Court. Ormond alleged that Weinstein sexually abused her in 1995 by asking her for a massage, during which he masturbated on her and forced her to perform oral sex.
“Obviously Harvey Weinstein is in prison and will be in prison for a very long time,” Ormond said. “I personally don’t think Harvey could have done this without Enabler. And to me, that’s the level you have to get to when it comes to the cause.”
She continued: “If there had been best practices and Harvey Weinstein had been called out at the outset after his first sexual harassment or sexual assault, he could have learned other behaviors and perhaps all subsequent people would not have been harmed.” became. But he wasn’t. And there’s a reason for that.”
Ormond added: “There is no way Harvey did this without people knowing. If people knew about it, they were either too afraid to come forward or they allowed the profit they were making from their relationship with him to justify a cover-up.”
Ormond met Weinstein in 1994; Her team later signed a two-year production deal with Weinstein’s Miramax. Ormond’s CAA agents, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, negotiated the deal with Weinstein. Ormond claimed in his lawsuit that they were “aware of Weinstein’s propensity for sexually assaultive and exploitative behavior, particularly toward young actresses with whom Weinstein met for business purposes.” According to information and belief, Huvane and Lourd were also aware of confidential agreements Weinstein had made to keep his behavior secret from the public. But they did not disclose these circumstances to Ormond or otherwise warn her about Weinstein’s propensity for sexual assault.”
Lourd and Huvane are now co-chairs of the CAA but are not named as defendants. CAA is being sued, and both are named in the lawsuit against the agency for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
The lawsuit continues: “This sexual assault on Ormond could have been prevented if Miramax or Disney had properly supervised Weinstein and not restrained him even though they knew he posed a danger to the women he encountered at work .”Had CAA fulfilled its legal obligations to Ormond to look out for her well-being, not to put her in harm’s way, and to warn her about Weinstein’s predations, Ormond would not have been in the position of becoming a victim of Harvey Weinstein.”
Weinstein’s Miramax and owner The Walt Disney Company are being sued for negligent oversight and retention.
“The men at CAA who represented Ormond knew about Weinstein. “So did Weinstein’s employers at Miramax and Disney,” the lawsuit says. “Outrageously, none of these prominent companies warned Ormond that Weinstein had a history of attacking women because he was too important, too powerful, and made them too much money.”
IndieWire has reached out to The Walt Disney Company and CAA for comment.
Read Ormond’s full lawsuit Here.