Julia Ormond (58, “The Walking Dead: World Beyond”) filed a lawsuit against the fallen Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein (71) in New York on Wednesday (October 4th). This is what Variety reports. Ormond alleges that Weinstein sexually harassed her after a business dinner in 1995 when he asked her for a massage, climbed on top of her, masturbated and forced her to perform oral sex.
After the alleged assault, the actress informed her representatives at Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, about the incident with Weinstein. The lawsuit alleges that employees at the artist’s agency warned her not to speak out and failed to protect her. Ormond therefore accuses the agency of negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
Ormond is also suing the film production company Miramax, which was founded in 1979 by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein (68), and the Walt Disney Company, which owned Miramax in the 1990s. “The men at CAA who represented Ormond knew about Weinstein,” the lawsuit says. “As did Weinstein’s employers at Miramax and Disney. Outrageously, none of these prominent companies warned Ormond that Weinstein had a history of assaulting women because he was too important, too powerful, and made them too much money.”
Harvey Weinstein categorically denies the allegations made against him by Julia Ormond, Weinstein’s lawyer said in a statement. “He is prepared to defend himself vigorously. This is another example of a lawsuit against Mr. Weinstein being filed decades later, and he is confident that the evidence will not support Ms. Ormond’s claims.”
She’s going public with her story now “because I feel like we still need systemic change, and I think we need to hold the enablers accountable to achieve that goal,” said Ormond, her filed suit under the Adult Survivors Act, introduced at the end of 2022, in an interview with Variety. “I feel like that’s exactly what happened to me.”
Apparently Harvey Weinstein is in prison and will remain in prison for a very long time. “I personally don’t think Harvey could have done this without enablers. And to me, that’s the level you need to get to when it comes to root cause.”
After being convicted of rape and sexual assault in two trials, Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York, followed by a 16-year sentence in Los Angeles.
