Julia Ormond filed a lawsuit in 2023 targeting the “enablers” that allowed Harvey Weinstein to get away with sexual abuse for decades.
Ormond, the star of “Legends of the Fall” and “Smilla’s Sense of Snow,” alleged that Weinstein sexually assaulted her after a business meeting in 1995. She sued Weinstein, Miramax, Disney, and — notably — CAA, arguing that her former agents had failed to warn her of Weinstein’s history before setting up the meeting.
In a court filing on Monday, CAA says new evidence contradicts that narrative. CAA argues that Ormond already knew about Weinstein’s abuse — because she had been sexually harassed by him before she became a CAA client, “undercutting her claim that CAA could have, or should have, warned her about Harvey Weinstein.”
CAA is raising this defense while seeking to prevent Disney and Miramax — which have reached a separate settlement with Ormond — from being dismissed from the case. CAA argues that the companies have failed to respond to discovery requests and may be required to offset any eventual damage award.
In a statement on Tuesday, Ormond’s attorney, Meredith Firetog, said that CAA is attempting to “derail” the settlement and is “victim-blaming” Ormond for having had a “professional” relationship with Weinstein prior to the sexual assault.
“We are pleased with the resolution reached with Disney and Miramax and applaud Ms. Ormond’s strength and perseverance in bringing the case to this point,” Firetog said. “CAA’s spiteful and meritless effort to derail that settlement — so it can deflect blame onto Disney and Miramax for its own failure to protect Ms. Ormond — will not succeed. Nor will CAA’s attempts to victim-blame Ms. Ormond because she had a professional relationship with Weinstein before he sexually assaulted her.”
A CAA spokesperson said that the new evidence — including Ormond’s deposition testimony and writings she made about the assault in 2017 — “significantly undermines the allegations in her complaint and validates CAA’s steadfast denial of her claims against the company.”
“Ms. Ormond has admitted that before she became a CAA client, she had a preexisting business relationship with Harvey Weinstein and had been subject to a pattern of his sexual harassment and misconduct,” a spokesperson said. “She has also failed to develop any record showing that CAA had the requisite knowledge of Weinstein’s history of sexual assault at any time to sustain her claims against CAA. The compelling evidence CAA has obtained so far demonstrates the importance of CAA maintaining its right to pursue discovery from Disney and Miramax.”
Quoting from Ormond’s deposition testimony, CAA states that Weinstein pressured Ormond to join him in his London hotel suite in 1994. He also allegedly invited her to watch him shower, tried to kiss her, and offered to be her sperm donor.
According to the filing, before her first meeting with Weinstein that year, Ormond’s U.K. agent, Patricia Marmont, warned her about his behavior.
“Marmont warned her that Weinstein may hit on her and that, if he did, Plaintiff should be careful about how she dealt with it because he was a powerful man,” wrote CAA’s lawyers, again drawing from Ormond’s testimony.
Meanwhile, CAA says there is no evidence that its agents — including Kevin Huvane and Bryan Lourd — knew about Weinstein’s abuse until decades later.
Ormond alleges that when she told her agents about the assault, they discouraged her from reporting it, saying she would not be believed and that it might damage her career. Huvane and Lourd have adamantly denied that, and CAA argues that Ormond’s testimony also casts doubt on that claim.
Ormond’s attorneys filed a motion to drop Disney and Miramax from the case, after reaching a confidential settlement with them earlier this year. CAA opposed the motion on Monday.
A judge denied CAA’s motion to throw out the case last year, finding a plausible argument that “CAA knew or had reason to know of a potential assault by Weinstein.”
CAA filed an appeal, which remains pending. Weinstein, who was convicted of sexual assault for a third time this month and remains incarcerated, has denied Ormond’s allegations.