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Actress Julia Ormond filed a lawsuit against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault and assault that she said took place in 1995.
The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court, also names Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as defendants over allegations of negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, and Walt Disney Co. and Miramax over negligent supervision and retention. Disney bought Miramax in 1993.
Ormond, known for her starring role in the 1995 romantic dramedy “Sabrina,” claims Weinstein sexually assaulted her in December 1995 after the two met for a business lunch in New York City.
She is seeking an unspecified amount, including compensatory damages for lost wages and earnings, “mental pain and anguish and severe emotional distress,” legal fees and punitive damages.
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In the complaint, Ormond claims she tried to talk to Weinstein about a project she was interested in at a dinner in New York City, but the film producer kept changing the subject and only wanted to discuss the project in an apartment provided Ormond from Miramax.
According to the complaint, Ormond agreed to speak with Weinstein at the apartment because her defenses were weakened by “several drinks” and she was “too drunk to even put her keys in the door” of her apartment. Inside, Weinstein allegedly stripped naked and forced Ormond to perform oral sex on him, despite repeated protests.
“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,” the complaint states .
Ormond claims that she later told her agents Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane what Weinstein had done, but that they did not act in her best interests and instead acted in Weinstein’s defense.
“Instead of siding with Ormond and advocating for her interests, they suggested that he not believe her when she reported Weinstein to the authorities and that he would cause serious harm to her career,” the complaint says.
Ormond claimed that “her career suffered dramatically” after the attack because CAA lost interest in representing her and hired “a younger and less experienced agent” to work with her.
“The damage to Ormond’s career from Weinstein’s attack and its aftermath was catastrophic, both personally and professionally,” the complaint states. “With the exception of a few television films, Ormond almost disappeared from the public eye over the next few years.”
Representatives for Disney, CAA, Miramax, Weinstein and Ormond did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Weinstein’s lawyer, Imran H. Ansari, said in a statement that Weinstein denies the allegations and is prepared to defend himself.
“This is another example of a complaint filed against Mr. Weinstein after decades, and he is confident that the evidence will not support Ms. Ormond’s claims,” the statement said.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in a New York state prison in March 2020 for sexually assaulting two women. In February, he was sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison in Los Angeles for rape, forced oral sex and sexual misconduct.
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