- Julia Ormond is a celebrated British actor
- She is suing Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault
- THESE are the details of her suit
The iconic Julia Ormond has recently accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual battery in a lawsuit that also names Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the Walt Disney Company and Miramax. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the New York supreme court, first reported by 'Variety' magazine, Ormond claims that the disgraced movie producer sexually assaulted her after a business dinner in December 1995, when he lured her into giving him a massage, climbed on top of her, masturbated and forced her to give him oral sex.
Julia wants justice for her sufferings
The Weinstein saga continues to rear its ugly head. While Ormond’s star was on the rise in the mid-1990s, her lawsuit claims that the damage to her career "because of Weinstein’s assault and the aftermath was catastrophic both personally and professionally." Representatives for CAA, Miramax, and Disney did not immediately respond to Daily Beast reporter Pilar Melendez’s request for comment on the lawsuit.
Imran H. Ansari, a lawyer for Weinstein, told Melendez in a statement that he "categorically denies the allegations made against him by Julia Ormond and he is prepared to vehemently 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 men at CAA who represented Ormond knew about Weinstein. So too did Weinstein’s employers at Miramax and Disney," the lawsuit states. "Brazenly, 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."
Julia's story is one of many
Ormond spoke to the magazine on the phone, and she mentioned that she is speaking out because she wants to be part of the change that can make Hollywood and other workplaces safer from sexual predators. "I am coming forward with my story now publicly because I feel as if we still need systemic change, and I feel that we need accountability from enablers, in order to get there," Ormond says. "I feel that this is what happened with me."
"Obviously, Harvey Weinstein is in jail and is going to be in jail for a very long time,” she added. “I personally don’t believe that Harvey could have done this without enablers. And for me, that is the layer that you have to get down to, in terms of the root cause."
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Julia filed her suit under the Adult Survivors Act, which New York passed in 2022 on the heels of the #MeToo movement. The measure created a one-year look-back period for survivors of sexual assault when they were over the age of 18 to sue their abusers, regardless of when the assault occurred.
Ormond’s lawyers said in a statement that they look forward to their client’s day in court. "Our client has suffered tremendously both personally and professionally due to the assault by Harvey Weinstein, and the failure from Disney, Miramax and CAA to prevent it and to appropriately respond when she reported what happened," Douglas H Wigdor and Effie Blassberger told Variety.
"She feels completely betrayed by CAA for its knowing disregard for her safety and well-being, and looks forward to holding accountable the people and institutions that enabled Harvey Weinstein’s horrific and predatory behavior."
In any case, the tragedy of the Harvey Weinstein crimes continues to make the news. Even though his disgrace is evident for the world to see, the victims are still reeling. Julia is hoping to get justice for so many more that still haven't come forward.
