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Actor Julia Ormond sues Harvey Weinstein claiming 1995 Manhattan sexual assault
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 4, 2023
Modified Oct 6, 2023
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Etienne Laurent-Pool/Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 4, 2023
Modified Oct 6, 2023
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Movie actor Julia Ormond has sued convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, her talent agents, Weinstein’s employers Miramax and Disney, claiming that she was sexually assaulted.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, uses the state’s Adult Survior’s Act, a unique statute that offers sexual assault victims a limited window to seek monetary damages against their attackers or institutions that harbored them, regardless of when the offense took place.
“Ormond is deeply troubled by the fact that her sexual assault was entirely preventable,” the lawsuit alleges. “Through the passage of the Adult Survivors Act, Ormond can finally have her day in court."
Ormond is best known for her roles in “Legends of the Fall” and “First Knight.” Her lawsuit alleges that in 1995, Weinstein went to her Manhattan apartment after a business meeting and lured her into giving him a massage. The suit claims Weinstein then masturbated and forced Ormond to give him oral sex.
Weinstein has been accused of more than 100 similar incidents. He was convicted of rape in Califorina in 2023 and in New York in 2020. Weinstein, 71, is currently serving a 23-year-sentence in Mohawk Correctional Facility. Calls and emails to Weinstein’s attorneys were not returned.
Typically, civil lawsuits can only be brought within three years of the alleged incident. New York’s Adult Survior’s Act, which went into effect last November and ends next month, removes those statute of limitations. Lawyers say roughly 300 cases have been filed under New York’s law, though hundreds more were likely settled privately. On Nov. 23 the lookback window officially closes.
"If you haven't filed a claim by then the window will close and that will be a problem," said Mariann Wang, a lawyer who specializes in sexual abuses.
“Women who experience sexual assault often feel so much shame for so many years that they cannot really confront it and process it, or understand the depth of the harm that they've experienced from it.”
Legal researchers say look-back windows have become increasingly common around the country, but doing away with statute of limitations altogether is not common.
“The trend has been toward having more and more exceptions to the point where hopefully one day there will be some degree of uniformity and appreciation for the fact that the window should be as wide open as possible,” said Wendy Murphy, an sexual violence scholar at New England School of Law in Boston
Ormond’s is the first known lawsuit against a talent agent who is being accused of knowingly putting an actor in a vulnerable position. The suit alleges that Ormond’s agents, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane with the firm Creative Arts Agency, knew Weinstein was a predator.
"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,” the suit says. “Not long after Weinstein’s assault on Ormond and her reporting of the assault to them, CAA lost interest in representing her, and her career suffered dramatically."
“They were in a position of superior knowledge and expertise,” said one of Ormond’s lawyers, Effie Blassberger. “They had information that he was this sexual predator and they didn't protect her.”
CAA, Walt Disney, and Miramax did not immediately return messages.
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that the official end of the lookback window is Nov. 23.
Tagged
public safety
manhattan
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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