Sara Ziff Files Lawsuit Against Fabrizio Lombardo, Harvey Weinstein, Disney, Buena Vista and Miramax
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Sara Ziff, a former model and the founder of the Model Alliance, filed a lawsuit Thursday in New York State Supreme Court against Fabrizio Lombardo, the former head of Miramax in Italy, along with Harvey Weinstein, Disney and its subsidiaries Buena Vista and Miramax, for abuse and negligence under the Adult Survivors Act.
Ziff sued Weinstein, Miramax, Disney and others alleging that she was raped by Lombardo in 2001 and his position within the company directly facilitated it.
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“Today I took an important step toward seeing accountability and finally moving toward healing,” Ziff said. “What happened to me at 19 years old was a catalytic moment for my life’s work. I am fortunate to stand with a powerful community of survivors, and I want to thank those who came before me and paved the way.”
Through the Model Alliance, Ziff has advocated about the importance of the Adult Survivors Act along with fellow models like Carré Otis, who has also alleged that she was raped at 17 by Gérald Marie, who was then the president of Elite Models’ European division.
In the complaint, it is alleged that Lombardo “forcibly and against Ziff’s will and without her consent, subjected her to bodily harm when he sexually assaulted and raped her. As a result of Fabrizio Lombardo’s alleged conduct, Ms. Ziff has suffered physical injury, severe emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, mental and emotional distress and anxiety, economic harm and other consequential damages.”
She is alleging sexual battery, gender-motivated violence and negligent supervision. She is seeking an undisclosed amount of monetary, punitive and compensatory damages.
The cause of action is timely under the Adult Survivors Act, because it arises out of conduct perpetrated against the plaintiff when she was 18 or older, and the conduct constitutes a sexual offense as defined in Article 130 of the New York Penal Law, according to the complaint.
The May 2022 passage of the Adult Survivors Act in New York State allows abuse victims to file civil charges on matters that had outrun the statue of limitations until November 2023.
Ziff is represented by Laura Edidin of Wigdor LLP and Kevin Mintzer.
Lombardo did not respond immediately Friday afternoon to a media request for comment about Ziff’s allegations of rape.
Weinstein’s attorney Imran Ansari of Aidala Bertuna & Kamins, PC Law, who is not working on behalf of Lombardo, declined further comment beyond the following statement. “To be clear, Sara Ziff is not accusing Harvey Weinstein of rape nor does she allege that there was any sexual misconduct directed at her by Mr. Weinstein. Her allegations of rape are directed at Fabrizio Lombardo. Certainly Mr. Weinstein had no control over any alleged conduct by Mr. Lombardo, nor would he have any reason to know what Mr. Lombardo was doing nor where Mr. Lombardo was at the time that Ms. Ziff alleges she was raped. As such, Mr. Weinstein firmly denies that he has any liability for the alleged conduct of another.”
Weinstein is currently serving a combined 39-year prison sentence for various sex crimes.
According to the suit, Ziff claims that in 2001 when she was 19 years old she was working as a model, and her agents set up a meeting with Lombardo because she wanted to become an actor. According to the complaint, Lombardo invited her to a private screening of “Black Hawk Down” at the Miramax offices and told her Weinstein would be there. Hoping to connect with Weinstein, she attended and later accepted an invitation from Lombardo to go to a nearby hotel to meet with Weinstein, as well as others, including Bob Weinstein, another producer whom Lombardo said the aspiring actress should meet.
In the suit, she claims this was a trick to get her alone in a hotel where she says Lombardo raped her. Ziff alleges she was so traumatized that she couldn’t speak of the assault for several years, and in the following weeks, she even attended meetings initiated by Lombardo because she feared retaliation. The suit claims she was worried that he would use his powerful connections in the modeling and acting industries, including with Harvey Weinstein, to deny her work in an early stage in her career. She was also worried that alienating Lombardo would rupture her relationship with her modeling agency since the co-owner of the agency Next was a friend of Lombardo, and Next had arranged an initial meeting with him.
The suit claims Lombardo would never have been able to rape Ziff if not for his position at Miramax and Disney. “Mr. Lombardo used the companies’ offices, resources, prestige and the possibility of career advancement to entice Ms. Ziff to a film screening where Mr. Weinstein would be present, and then offered the prospect of a further meeting with Harvey and Robert Weinstein as a cover to get her alone in his hotel room,” the suit claims.
In 2012, Ziff founded the Model Alliance, which encourages any model who feels they have been subjected to any unwanted sexual attention of abuse at work to contact its support team, which offers discreet grievance reporting and guidance.
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