English actress Julia Ormond is suing Harvey Weinstein for sexual battery and suing CAA, Miramax, and its parent company Disney as negligent parties, Variety reports. In the lawsuit, which was filed October 4 in New York Supreme Court, the Walking Dead: World Beyond actress alleges that the incident took place after a business dinner in 1995, when “Weinstein refused to discuss business matters and kept changing the subject,†insisting that he would only talk about an upcoming project back at her apartment, which had been provided to her by Miramax. She had consumed several drinks and agreed that they could discuss the project at her apartment. “Soon after, Weinstein stripped naked and forced her to perform oral sex on him.†At the time, Ormond was best known for starring roles in Hollywood films like Legends of the Fall and Sabrina.
Ormond’s suit holds CAA liable for failing to protect its client from a dangerous situation, and claims that her agents Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane encouraged her not to reach out to authorities, go public, or even try to seek a settlement, saying “she would not be believed†and “she shouldn’t expect to receive more than $100,000, which they apparently believed was the going rate for being sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein.†The lawsuit alleges that her career was damaged anyway, as after she reported the assault to CAA, Miramax ended its contract with her, CAA neglected her, and “her career suffered dramatically.â€
In the decades since the alleged assault and subsequent fallout, Ormond has largely worked in television in various smaller roles, a downgrade from the perceived trajectory she was on in the 1990s. Despite this, she has managed to shine in a number of projects, receiving one Guest Actress Emmy nomination for her role as Megan Draper’s mom on Mad Men and winning a Supporting Actress Emmy for the HBO TV movie Temple Grandin.
In a statement shared by her lawyers, Ormond states that she is finally coming forward with this lawsuit after “living for decades with the painful memories of my experiences at the hands of Harvey Weinstein†in part because of the dozens of women who have testified against him in the media and in court since 2017. Weinstein, 71, is currently serving a combined 39-year sentence: 23 years in New York for rape and sexual assault as sentenced in 2020, and an additional 16 years for a different case, sentenced in February of this year by a Los Angeles judge. “Their courage and the Adult Survivors Act has provided me a window of opportunity and 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,†she says. “I seek a level of personal closure by holding them accountable to acknowledge their part and the depth of its harms and hope that all of our increased understanding will lead to further protections for all of us at work.â€
CAA denied the allegations Ormond made Wednesday night. “CAA takes all allegations of sexual assault and abuse seriously, and has compassion for Ms. Ormond and the experience she described in her complaint,†a rep said in a statement obtained by Deadline. “However, the claims that Ms. Ormond has levied against the agency are completely without merit. Through counsel, Ms. Ormond approached CAA in March with these allegations about the agency. Knowing these allegations to be untrue, the agency then retained attorney Loretta Lynch and her law firm, Paul Weiss, to defend the company. Their review found nothing to support Ms. Ormond’s claims against CAA.†The statement went on to say Ormond, through council, demanded $15 million in exchange for not making her allegations public. “CAA immediately rejected this demand,†they said.
This post has been updated.