Disney & CAA Want Out Of Julia Ormond’s Suit Over Harvey Weinstein 1995 Sexual Assault; “Blame On The Wrong Defendant,” Uberagency Says

Dominic Patten
·5 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Two months after Julia Ormond sued CAA, Disney and Harvey Weinstein for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, battery and more over an alleged 1995 sexual assault by the now incarcerated Weinstein, the agency and the Bob Iger-led corporation say they shouldn’t be a part of the suit and want out.

“Accepting the allegations in the Complaint as true, Harvey Weinstein’s alleged misconduct is disturbing and deplorable,” a filing Tuesday by Disney’s New York lawyers Cravath, Swaine & Moore asserts of Ormond’s October 4 complaint. “But the question is whether Plaintiff’s allegations are sufficient to state a claim for negligent supervision against TWDC,” it adds, in respect to the company’s ownership of the Weinstein’s’ Miramax from 1993-2010.

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“They are not, with respect to any of the four elements of that cause of action. Therefore, TWDC respectfully requests that the single claim against it be dismissed” (read Disney’s filing to be dismissed from the Weinstein case here).

Disney’s request and sentiment is echoed by the now Artémis-controlled CAA in its own filing today in New York Supreme Court.

“It is now widely known that Harvey Weinstein committed multiple sexual assaults and that his deplorable conduct had a devastating impact on many women,” reads a memorandum also filed in New York by CAA’s lawyers. “But prior to Plaintiff’s alleged assault by Weinstein in December 1995, which is the only timeframe relevant to Plaintiff’s claims against Creative Artists Agency, LLC, CAA did not have that knowledge about Weinstein” it added in the paperwork in support of a motion to dismiss Ormond’s claims against CAA and accusations against her unnamed then-agents Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane (read CAA’s filing to be dismissed from the Weinstein case here).

“CAA thus had no reason to believe there was any risk to Plaintiff in arranging a business dinner with Weinstein,” the filing goes on to say. “As Plaintiff acknowledges in her Complaint, she had a year-long productive working relationship with Weinstein before she ever hired CAA, and Plaintiff had previously met with Weinstein in person without incident. CAA has deep sympathy for Plaintiff as one of the women who, as alleged, suffered at Weinstein’s hands. However, in suing CAA, Plaintiff places blame on the wrong defendant.”

That’s their POV, but Ormond says Weinstein forced himself upon her for oral sex over two decades ago and both CAA and Disney knew of the Oscar-winning producer’s predatory behavior and did nothing to protect her. “The men at CAA who represented Ormond knew about Weinstein,” the filing details. “So too did Weinstein’s employers at Miramax and Disney. 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.”

Both CAA and Disney deny Ormond’s assertions, and this will play itself out in the courts for months if not years. However, it is noteworthy that the Temple Grandin actor also claims Lourd and Huvane indicated to her back in the 1990s that the standard settlement figure in such assault matters with Weinstein was about $100,000.

Not quite, CAA said today.

“Plaintiff never told Bryan Lourd, Kevin Huvane, or CAA about the assault until she approached the agency with a demand letter from her lawyers earlier this year,” the agency stated in its filing.

“As we allege in the complaint, CAA, Disney, and Miramax knew that Harvey Weinstein was a predator before he attacked Ms. Ormond, and they did nothing about it because Weinstein made them money,” Ormond’s primary lawyer Doug Wigdor told Deadline today. “Ms. Ormond will oppose these motions and we are confident she will prevail.”

Ormond took Weinstein, CAA and Disney to court under the Empire State’s Adult Survivors Act.

The much accused and convicted Weinstein, 74, is currently in jail in Los Angeles after being sentenced to 16 years for rape and other sex crimes in February. West Coast justice came after Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years by a Manhattan judge in March 2020 for other rape and sex crimes.

In mid-October, CAA co-chairman & CEO Lourd and Ari Emanuel got into a verbal dust-up after the Endeavor boss said Lourd and Huvane should step back from their duties while Ormond’s case plays out. “Seven different agents knew about different incidents with women. When they took over, they decided that ‘We’re going to look the other way.’ That’s why they got sued,” Emanuel said at a Bloomberg Screentime event.

The next day, at the same event, Lourd took the bait and blasted Emanuel back, which is exactly what the Endeavor boss wanted, as we’ve all seen before.

“We all know Ari Emanuel to be an incredibly performative and erratic and in my mind self-serving human, I think much to the detriment of not just his colleagues, but his clients, the few that he’s got left, more importantly, his investors,” Lourd told the well-heeled crowd.

“The idea that he in any way could hold himself out as morally superior to anyone, but specifically around challenges to women, it’s ironic that the companies that he’s let his group into and the men that he’s partnered with and defends are maybe his advisors on women’s issues,” Lourd continued. “But these are very serious issues, they’re not meant for any hypocritical soundbites, so you’re not going to get any from me. We were falsely accused and we’re going to address those accusations in court, in a proper forum.”

 

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