Julia Ormond Wants To Hold Quite a Few People in Hollywood Accountable for Harvey Weinstein's Reign of Terror

Julia Ormond was one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood in the 1990s with movies like Legends of the Fall, Sabrina, and First Knight. After keeping a lower profile in the last few decades, the 58-year-old star is back in the public eye with a major lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein for sexual battery under the Adult Survivors Act. However, he’s not the only one she’s holding accountable, Ormond is also suing high-powered talent agency CAA, The Walt Disney Company, and Miramax.

This unusual legal move is probably going to be carefully watched by Hollywood studios because if Ormond is successful, there may be other survivors of Weinstein’s abuse who will follow her lead. In the New York Supreme Court documents, obtained by Variety, Ormond alleges that she was sexually assaulted by the disgraced studio executive after a business meeting in 1995. She claims “he lured her into giving him a massage, climbed on top of her, masturbated and forced her to give him oral sex.” Ormond did not remain silent after the alleged assault and reportedly told her then-agents Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane at CAA about the incident.

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That’s where the already traumatizing alleged event took an even darker turn. According to the lawsuit, the two agents “cautioned her from speaking out and did not protect her.” That is why she’s adding them to the lawsuit for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. Ormond added Miramax, Weinstein’s production company at the time, and Disney, the owner of Miramax in that decade, to the lawsuit for negligent supervision and retention.

“The men at CAA who represented Ormond knew about Weinstein. So too did Weinstein’s employers at Miramax and Disney,” the court documents read. “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.” Ormond told Variety that she believes Hollywood needs “systemic change” and “accountability from enablers.”

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Weinstein denied Ormond’ claims via his attorney, Imran H. Ansari, as he serves a 23-year prison sentence in New York for rape and sexual assault. Once that term is completed, he will serve another 16-years in Los Angeles for similar crimes.

CAA is also pushing back against the lawsuit saying Ormond’s claims are “completely without merit” via an agency spokesperson to Variety. They also allege that her lawyers demanded “$15,000,000 in exchange for Ms. Ormond not making the allegations against CAA public,” which the agency “rejected.” Ormond’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, doesn’t seem too worried about the backlash from the defendants, telling the media outlet confidently, “Rest assured, we will expose the real facts.” It’s going to be a fascinating case to keep an eye on.

Before you go, click here to see celebrities who have opened up about surviving sexual assault.

Launch Gallery: A Look Back at Harvey Weinstein & Georgina Chapman's Relationship

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