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Harvey Weinstein Accuser Julia Ormond Scores Victory in Battery Lawsuit as Judge Shuts Down Disney, CAA
A New York judge sided with Harvey Weinstein’s accuser, Julia Ormond, and denied Disney, Miramax and CAA’s efforts to escape her lawsuit, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, the court shut down the media companies’ separate motions to dismiss all claims in the lawsuit. Julia, 59, filed her bombshell lawsuit in October 2023.
She accused Miramax, once owned by Harvey, 72, and his brother Robert, Disney, who purchased Miramax in 1993, and talent agency CAA, of negligence .
The actress claimed that she met Harvey in 1995 at a business dinner over a project. She said he refused to talk business at dinner and said he would only talk about the project at an apartment that had been provided to Julia by Miramax as part of a first-look deal with the studio.
After arriving at her apartment, Julia claimed Harvey “stripped naked and forced her to perform oral sex on him.” In her suit, the actress, who starred in Legends of the Fall with Brad Pitt and the Sabrina remake with Harrison Ford, accused Miramax and Disney of failing to properly supervise Harvey, despite knowing he was a danger to women. On top of that, Julia accused her then-agents, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, of advising her not to report the incident to authorities.
Her suit claimed the two men, who are now co-chairmen of CAA, “suggested that if she reported Weinstein to the authorities, she would not be believed, and he would seriously damage her career. Still worse, 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.”
Her lawsuit demanded unspecified damages.
“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 for CAA said to CNN. “However, the claims that Ms. Ormond has levied against the agency are completely without merit.”
“Harvey Weinstein categorically denies the allegations made against him by Julia Ormond and he is prepared to vehemently defend himself,” his rep said.
“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.”
Miramax, Disney and CAA all moved to dismiss the claims in the suit.
However, at the recent hearing, the judge ruled Julia had presented enough evidence for the claims to proceed. “[Julia] has adequately alleged that Weinstein used his position at Miramax, and his power to greenlight financing on her project per her film production agreement with Miramax, to facilitate his assault on her,” the order read.
Further, “[Julia’s] allegations as to Disney are all sufficient to state a claim for negligent supervision and retention, warranting denial of Disney’s motion,” the order read. The judge also ruled against the claims against CAA being tossed.
The case will move forward.
Harvey recently had his 2020 rape conviction in New York overturned. He remains behind bars awaiting retrial. Harvey was also sentenced to 16 years in a separate criminal case filed in California.
