Weinstein, Disney Sued Over More Sexual Assault

You know when an actor or actress suddenly completely vanishes off the Hollywood radar, as if they have just been completely erased? One actress who simply just vanished was Julia Ormond. Legends Of The Fall, First Knight, Sabrina, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, her career seemed to be hitting high gear. Then, suddenly, she was gone.

Now we might be about to find out why. Ormond has just filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein, claiming he sexually assaulted her in 1995 after a dinner in New York. The lawsuit goes further. She is also seeking damages from Disney, Miramax, and her former talent agency who she says failed to protect her from abuse.

The case was filed in New York under a law that allows sex cases to be filed outside of the statute of limitations. Weinstein is already serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape.

The suit alleges Ormond’s career never recovered after the attack by Weinstein. According to the filing, at the peak of her career, she and Weinstein returned from a business dinner to an apartment provided by the production company, where he stripped naked and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The suit says:

“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,”

Weinstein’s attorney Imran Ansari told the Associated Press that his client categorically denies the allegations made against him by Julia Ormond. Ormond is also suing the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), her former talent agency which she says failed to warn her about Weinstein’s abuse. Here, the suit says:

“…that if she reported Weinstein to the authorities, she would not be believed, and he would seriously damage her career.”

The filing claims that CAA lost interest in representing her, and her career suffered dramatically after the assault as Hollywood apparently circled wagons to protect a known abuser in their midst. There was apparent “retaliation”.  In a statement accompanying the filing, Ormond said:

“After living for decades with the painful memories of my experiences at the hands of Harvey Weinstein, I am humbled and grateful to all those who have risked speaking out.”