Filmmaker Paul Schrader accused of sexually assaulting, harassing assistant

Yahoo

05-04-2025

Filmmaker Paul Schrader, the screenwriter behind 'Taxi Driver' and 'Raging Bull,' has been accused of sexually assaulting his much younger assistant and, after firing her in the fall, reneging on a settlement.
According to documents filed in New York County Supreme Court, the 26-year-old assistant, identified only as Jane Doe, is suing Schrader and his production company for alleged breach of contract, and is asking a judge to enforce the agreement.
Doe claims the settlement was intended to keep confidential her accusations against the 78-year-old Oscar nominee. She says they agreed to an undisclosed monetary amount on Feb. 5, but that Schrader backed out of the deal late last month.
According to Doe, she worked as a personal assistant for the writer and director from May 2021 until her termination in September. During those three and a half years, Schrader 'used his position of power over Ms. Doe (who is 52 years younger than him)' to sexually harass and assault her on multiple occasions, court documents allege.
In one such instance last May, Doe claims Schrader trapped her in his hotel room during the Cannes Film Festival, 'forcibly grabbing her and kissing her, despite her protests.' She was eventually able to free himself from his grasp and flee the room, Doe says.
Three days later, Schrader allegedly lured her back to his hotel room under the guise of needing help packing his bags, then proceeded to expose himself from beneath a bathrobe.
Throughout their working relationship, Doe says she was subjected to 'near-constant inappropriate sexual questions and lewd and misogynistic commentary,' according to the filing. Among those alleged remarks, Schrader repeatedly professed his 'desire to touch' her, both verbally and in writing, while seeming to admit she was clearly uncomfortable.
In a May 2023 email, quoted in the documents, Schrader allegedly wrote, 'I sense you are uncomfortable with my affection for you.' Another email from a year later purportedly read, 'I sense you recoil every time I have the impulse to touch you.'
After repeatedly rejecting Schrader's advances, Doe claims she was fired out of retaliation in September. Two days later, he allegedly emailed her to acknowledge his predatory behavior.
'So I f—ed up. Big time,' Schrader wrote, per the filing. 'If I have become a Harvey Weinstein in your mind, then of course you have no choice but to put me in the rear view mirror.'
Following months of negotiations, Doe claims he eventually agreed to her terms for a confidential settlement. But by late March, he 'unequivocally stated that he would not perform his obligations under the settlement agreement' and refused to sign the paperwork she sent to him.
Schrader's lawyers have denied that he 'ever made an attempt to have a sexual relationship of any kind with his former assistant,' calling the lawsuit 'desperate, opportunistic and frivolous.' They also said the settlement cannot be enforced since Schrader never signed the documents.
'The agreement that they're trying to enforce against Mr. Schrader, in plain English, required both parties to sign it before it became legally effective,' said New York attorney Philip J. Kessler. 'Mr. Schrader declined to sign it. It's frankly as simple as that.'
With News Wire Services