'The buck stops with the studio!' Harvey Weinstein accusers argue amongst themselves after one victim of pervert Hollywood mogul wins $5.7 million payout whilst dozens of other women had to split $17 million in damages between them
Zoe Brock said she was happy for British actress Julia Ormond but the deal 'pisses me off' because she was one of dozens of women who had to split $17 million in 2021.
Ms Brock said that others may take aim at Disney, who Ms Ormond sued, because 'the buck stops' with the studio as it owned Weinstein's movie company Miramax until 2010.
Kaja Sokola, who testified at Weinstein's retrial in New York earlier this year, warned the settlement could be a 'blueprint' for others to follow.
This week DailyMail.com exclusively revealed the stunning payout to Ms Ormond, 60, who rose to fame starring opposite Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall.
The out of court settlement came after she sued Miramax, Disney and her former agents Creative Artists Agency (CAA) claiming negligence for not protecting her from Weinstein even though they knew he could be dangerous.
Ms Ormond claimed that Weinstein stripped naked in front of her at her Manhattan apartment in 1995 and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
The settlement from Disney and Miramax does not include any admission of wrongdoing but it could open the door to dozens of similar cases.
Ms Ormond (pictured) claimed that Weinstein stripped naked in front of her at her Manhattan apartment in 1995 and forced her to perform oral sex on him
And it is a striking contrast to the $17 million settlement from 2021 for more than 40 women with Weinstein's bankrupt film company, The Weinstein Co.
Speaking from her home in New Zealand, Ms Brock praised Ms Ormond as a 'queen' for getting such a deal for herself.
Ms Brock, 51, a former model, has claimed that Weinstein took off his clothes and demanded a massage in a hotel room when she was 23, forcing her to hide in the bathroom.
She said that Ms Ormond has 'done what I wanted to do'.
Ms Brock said: 'My whole idea I went to the lawyers with was to go after Disney
'Everything was covered up, everything was'.
Ms Brock said that the class action lawsuit, which led to the 2021 settlement, was the thing that 'undid us'.
She said: 'The class action lawsuit was the worst thing that any of the Weinstein survivors could have gotten involved in. We were conned into it. It bit us on the a**.
'I was the last person who tried to hold out and not take that settlement and appeal
'The problem was….that I was broke, a single mom, totally trying to get my life back together. The amount it would cost was astronomical. I couldn't afford it'.
The day Ms Brock took the deal, which she said was in the 'low, low six figures', she 'puked and cried'.
She said: 'It was awful. I put that small amount in a trust for my kid and tried to move on. It pisses me off.
'I am so happy for Julia. Smart girl. Clever girl. What a woman. Go for it. F*** them where it hurts'.
Ms Brock said that others may follow suit because 'Miramax was part of Disney, it was a clear step. Miramax did not exist without Disney.
'The buck stops at Disney'.
Ms Sokola, 45, a former model, testified at Weinstein's retrial about two instances of sexual assault, one in 2002 when she was just 16 and a second one in 2006.
Weinstein was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison, but the conviction was overturned on appeal in April 2024 and Weinstein is now being retried on the charges
The jury acquitted Weinstein on the counts related to her testimony, however they found him guilty of sexual assault related to another accuser. A mistrial was declared over a rape allegation.
Ms Sokola said she was 'really happy' for Ms Ormond.
She said: 'What they did, especially the companies, the settlement she received should be a blueprint for all other races that involved other big companies that should be responsible for the people that work for them'.
'Do I think it's fair for the other women? Of course I don't. I wish all the other women got money to at least conceive they couldn't work.
'At the same time if I could give advice to anyone thinking about proceeding in that step, just reach out to the best lawyer you can'.
Ms Sokola said that during early discussions with Weinstein's companies figures in excess of $100 million were touted for his victims, which are thought to run into the hundreds.
Instead some women ended up with tens of thousands of dollars.
Ms Sokola saidL 'I would say if someone feels they have a unique individual case, I'd suggest they go for it.
'This is such a gamble. You never know what will be the outcome'.
Ms Brock's lawyer was Doug Wigdor, dubbed the 'no.1 MeToo lawyer in America': his other clients include Cassandra Ventura, who testified earlier this year at the trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
During the case it emerged that Ms Ventura had gotten a $20 million payout from Combs after suing him in 2023. She is also set to get another $10 million from a Los Angeles hotel where he subjected her to a brutal beating.
Mr Wigdor has another client, former model Sara Ziff, who has also sued Disney for its failure to protect her from Weinstein: her case is ongoing.
One hitch for potential litigants is that Ms Ormond's case was filed under the Adult Survivors Act, a 2022 law in New York that allowed a one year window to file civil cases that were normally past the statute of limitations.
However other laws may provide a way for cases to be filed and similar legislation could be passed in the future again.
Meredith Firetog, a partner at Mr Wigdor's law firm who worked on Ms Ormond's case, said that they were 'happy' with the settlement.
She said: 'Harvey Weinstein didn't operate in a vacuum and it's important to hold those people and institutions accountable'.
Elizabeth Fagan, the lawyer who brokered the 2021 settlement for Weinstein's victims, did not respond to requests for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
a few seconds ago
- Reuters
Texas governor orders arrest of Democrats absent at Monday redistricting vote
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered Democratic lawmakers to be brought back to the state capital after they left Texas in a bid to prevent voting on a Republican plan to redraw the state's congressional districts. The exodus by Democratic members of the Texas legislature was intended to deny Republicans the quorum necessary to vote on the redistricting plan, which President Donald Trump has championed. By redrawing district lines in hopes of flipping some seats currently held by Democrats, the Republicans aim to protect the party's narrow U.S. House of Representatives majority in next year's midterm elections. At Monday's session the Republican speaker of the state House issued civil warrants for the Democrats - most of whom have gone to Illinois, New York or Massachusetts - to be brought back to Austin. But the orders apply only within the state, and breaking quorum is not a crime. "To ensure compliance, I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans," Abbott said in a statement. On Sunday, Abbott cited an opinion by the state's attorney general that district courts may determine whether legislators have forfeited their offices "due to abandonment," saying that would empower him to "swiftly fill vacancies." But even if Abbott succeeded in ousting the absent Democrats, it would take time to hold new elections. Attorney General Ken Paxton told Fox News' Will Cain on Monday that he expected the Texas Supreme Court to ultimately weigh in on any abandonment cases filed against the Democratic lawmakers. "And they're obviously a Republican court," he added. In another possible tactic, Abbott said that any lawmaker who solicited funds to pay the $500-per-day fine that Texas House rules impose on absent legislators could violate bribery laws. He vowed to try and extradite any "potential out-of-state felons" among the group. Republicans hold a 219-212 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, with three Democratic-held seats vacant after deaths and one Republican seat vacant after a member resigned. A stronger Republican majority in the U.S. House would enable Trump to further advance his agenda. The session - which was also called to address flood prevention and relief - is due to reconvene on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Central Time (1800 GMT). Democrats have threatened to stay out of state until the end of the 30-day special session, which began on July 21. Democratic U.S. Representatives Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett led several dozen protesters in a march outside the governor's mansion on Monday afternoon. "Governor Greg Abbott is a coward for saying that our law enforcement should go out and arrest our local elected officials," Casar told Reuters. "This is America. This is a place where you're not supposed to be sending law enforcement to go and handcuff elected officials that you disagree with." Gene Wu, the chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, told Reuters on Monday that the calls for the arrest of the members of his caucus were "a warning to the public of what they're doing. They're threatening us with arrest because we're defending you." Wu said the current congressional districts in Texas already dilute the voting power of racial minorities in the state, and the new redistricting plan represented "turbocharged racism." "To accomplish what Donald Trump wants, you would have to take that racial gerrymandering and kick it up like ten notches," he added. Abbott in a Monday morning appearance on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" called Wu's accusation "bogus". He said the redistricting would expand the number of Hispanic-majority districts and that it was necessary to give Trump voters in Democrat-majority districts the ability to elect Republican U.S. representatives. A White House official told Reuters that Trump supports Abbott's threat to remove absent Democratic lawmakers and wants "whatever is necessary" done to get the new map passed. Trump has told reporters he expects the effort to yield as many as five additional House Republicans. States are required to redistrict every 10 years based on the U.S. Census, but the current Texas map was passed just four years ago by the Republican-dominated legislature. While mid-cycle redistricting occasionally takes place, it is usually prompted by a change in power at the legislature. Leaders of Democrat-led states such as California and Illinois have recently raised the idea of redistricting their own U.S. congressional maps to boost the number of Democratic seats in response to Abbott's push in Texas. Under Texas' current lines, Republicans control 25 out of 38 seats, nearly two-thirds of the districts in a state that went for Trump last year by a 56% to 42% margin. Texas Democratic lawmakers have before tried the strategy of leaving the state to block a redistricting plan. Some fled in 2021 in a similar bid to deny Abbott the quorum needed to pass a voting restriction measure. That bill passed after three of the lawmakers returned, saying they had achieved their goal of bringing national attention to the issue.
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
One Tree Hill star Jana Kramer reacts to rumor her husband Allan Russell is on the Bumble dating app
Jana Kramer says she isn't worried about rumors her husband is stepping out on her. The 72 Hours actress, whose husband Allan Russell, 41, revealed some very personal information about their sex life, opened up about the issue Monday in her Whine Down podcast. 'I literally trust Allan so much. Did you get the email about Bumble?' Kramer, 41, asked her co-host, claiming that someone had been impersonating the former Scottish soccer player on the dating app. 'Remember how there was this thing going around being like, "Oh, Allan is on a dating app?" And Allan and I were joking about it. It's hilarious,' she said. Showing her trust in her husband, she said, 'But I wouldn't even look into that now. In years past, I would have 1,000 percent looked into it.' However, the One Tree Hill alumna said there is still some cause for concern, as there is allegedly ''a fake Bumble account going around and they're using his picture.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jana Kramer (@kramergirl) She explained, 'There's not a piece of me' that believes the rumors. Kramer said her marriage to Russell is 'so different than my last one' to former Buffalo Bills tight-end Mike Caussin, 38, who was unfaithful to her several times and eventually entered into treatment for sex addiction. The couple were married from 2015–2021, and they share two children: Jolie, nine, and Jace, six. Kramer's first marriage to Michael Gambino, 47, was a violent one. Gambino was convicted on attempted murder charges after a 2005 incident in which he choked the actress until she was unconscious. He was released in 2010 and took his own life two years later. She shared a short-lived one-month marriage with That Thing You Do actor Johnathon Schaech in 2010. Kramer began dating Russell is January 2023, and by November of that year they had welcomed their son Roman, 21 months. They married legally in January 2024 and held a formal ceremony in July. 'Happy 1st wedding anniversary my love,' Kramer wrote on social media last month sharing photos from their big day. 'It's been a year full of love, growth, and adventure. Thank you for loving me the way you do and for making this first year more beautiful than I ever imagined. I wouldn't want to do life with anyone else. Happy anniversary my love.' 'We have everything to last,' she said Monday of her relationship with Russell. 'I didn't have anything to hold on to in my last marriages. So that's why it's so different. So, it's like, hold on now to what you know to be the truth of what you do have.'
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
WWE bombshell Nikki Bella reveals she suffered rare horrific breast implant injury during match
Longtime WWE bombshell Nikki Bella revealed she suffered a rare horrific injury during last week's Monday Night RAW - one of her breast implants has been pushed into her ribs. Bella participated in an eight-woman tag during last week's show, teaming with Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, and Stephanie Vaquer against the quartet of Naomi, Chelsea Green, Alba Fyre, and Piper Niven. It appears that an elbow drop from the stout Niven to a grounded Bella was the move that dislodged her implant. Bella did not take part in the mega two-night SummerSlam event this past weekend at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Instead, Bella detailed what she was up to with the scary ailment. 'We were just out there talking I was just like, "Oh my god, I'm having so much fun." I didn't want the match to end,' Bella said on her podcast. 'I was in a little bit of pain, but I didn't want it to end.' 'I mean, your implant okay?' Brie Bella, Nikki's twin sister, stated. 'I think it's stuck in your ribs, but…' 'I think it is. I had to go to the doctor yesterday to get my t** looked at,' Nikki continued. 'I was just telling Brie, I'm having conversations with my shirt off and I'm thinking in my head, like, "I didn't think I'd be here today on my day off in New York City getting my boob looked at, knowing that my implant I think has moved." And I'm like, "Alright, it has moved." It's moved.' 'It's okay. We're going to get it fixed one day. I told the doctor, I go, "Newly divorced, so the minute the boots are hung up, I'm going to come back to you and we're going to make these girls look real good, because these girls are going to get some action in the future and that can't look like that."' On the latest episode of the podcast, Nikki gave another update on her breasts, saying she did not expect the coverage of her mishap to be 'everywhere'. 'I literally had told Brie all of this in private and when she said it live about my implant, I was like, "Are you kidding me?"' Nikki added. 'Then yesterday it was everywhere about my implant. I keep getting text messages, I was just backstage and everyone kept coming up, like, "Is it okay?"' 'I'll know later. I don't know yet if it exploded or not. It still seems intact. It's swollen, it hurts, but I think it might be fine. ... I can't believe I'm loudly talking about this, but hey, it's 2025, whatever. Send well wishes to my fake boob, thank you.'
