Actress Julia Ormond filed a lawsuit against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault and battery that she said happened in 1995.
The complaint, filed in New York Supreme Court, also names the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as a defendant over allegations of negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, along with the Walt Disney Co. and Miramax for negligent supervision and retention. Disney bought Miramax in 1993.
Julia Ormond at the NBCUniversal Television Critics Association summer press tour in 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, file
Ormond, known for playing the titular role in the 1995 romantic dramedy “Sabrina,” alleges that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in December 1995 after the two met for a business dinner in New York City.
She is seeking an unspecified sum, including damages for lost wages and earnings, “mental pain and anguish and severe emotional distress,” attorneys’ fees and punitive damages.
In the complaint, Ormond alleges that she attempted to speak with Weinstein at a dinner in New York City about a project she was interested in, but the movie producer kept switching the subject and only wanted to discuss the project at an apartment that had been provided to Ormond by Miramax.
According to the complaint, Ormond agreed to speak with Weinstein at the apartment, because her defenses were down from having “several drinks” and she had become “too inebriated to even put her keys in the door” of her apartment. Once inside, Weinstein allegedly stripped naked and forced Ormond to perform oral sex on him, despite repeated protests.
“That sexual assault on Ormond could have been prevented if Miramax or Disney had properly supervised Weinstein and not retained him while knowing that he was a danger to the women he encountered at work,” the complaint reads.
Ormond alleges that she later told her agents, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, what Weinstein had done but that they did not act in her interest and instead acted in defense of Weinstein.
“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,” the complaint reads.
Ormond alleged that “her career suffered dramatically” after the assault, because CAA lost interest in representing her and assigned “a younger and less experienced agent” to work with her.
“The damage to Ormond’s career because of Weinstein’s assault and the aftermath was catastrophic both personally and professionally,” according to the complaint. “With the exception of some television movies, over the next several years, Ormond nearly disappeared from the public eye.”
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 yet another example of a complaint filed against Mr. Weinstein after the passing of 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 consecutively sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison for rape, forced oral sex and sexual misconduct in Los Angeles.
HOW TO GET HELP
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, you can call 1-800-871-7741 for free and confidential help 24 hours a day. To learn more about sexual violence prevention and response in Maine, visit the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault website.
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