Fast and Furious director Rob Cohen accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman
The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen has been accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, months after his daughter alleged that he molested her when she was a child.
According to the alleged victim, given the name “Jane” in a report in the Huffington Post to protect her anonymity, Cohen allegedly assaulted her in 2015 when she was unconscious.
The alleged assault took place after Cohen invited Jane to a business meeting in Manhattan to discuss working together on a TV pilot.
According to the Huffington Post, Jane said she felt “fuzzy” after dinner but went with Cohen to another bar because she “was excited about the career opportunity”. The next thing she recalls is waking up naked with Cohen’s “face in her crotch and his fingers inside her”.
This new allegation comes after Cohen’s daughter Valkyrie Weather accused her father of sexual assault in February. Cohen has denied Weather’s accusation and her claims that he took her to see sex workers in Thailand and the Czech Republic when she was a teenager.
Cohen’s lawyer Martin Singer responded to Jane’s accusations in the Huffington Post, writing to the publication in a 13-page letter: “The proposed Story is an outrageous defamatory hit piece, making extraordinarily offensive assertions that my client engaged in heinous sexual misconduct, criminal wrongdoing, and other inappropriate behaviour, which are vehemently disputed and denied by my client.”
In a statement from Cohen obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the director denied the claims of sexual assault, saying: “I have never assaulted, raped, drugged or molested anyone. I have never belonged to any cigar club, and certainly was never there with ‘Jane’. (Out of restraint, I won’t reveal her real name).
“This hateful campaign that my daughter is waging against me, and by her own admission only affirmed by her mother, is why this is happening to me. This is the same mother that the court has awarded sole custody to me over twice, even though I was a single father at the time.
“We all know family courts don’t award sole custody to a person who molests their children. My daughter wants to destroy me.”
Cohen also provided a copy of a statement from his ex-wife, who is the mother of his three other children, which was written at the time that Jane contacted the Huffington Post. In the statement, she wrote: “As a person who was married to Rob, shared a home and children with him, I would tell you without any hesitation that I don’t believe Rob has ever done any of the things he is accused of, nor is he capable of such behaviour…
“I feel extremely sad for Rob and I know that he does not deserve the untrue and horrible accusations made about him.”
The Independent has contacted Cohen’s representatives for comment.
As well as directing the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious, Cohen also helmed the movies xXx, Stealth, The Mummy sequel Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and The Hurricane Heist.
