Paul Schrader Accused of Sexually Harassing Former Assistant, Refusing to Honor Settlement
In a motion filed Thursday in the Supreme Court of New York in New York County, the 26-year-old former assistant, identified as an anonymous Jane Doe, accused 78=year-old Schrader of groping her and attempting to force her to kiss him while they were at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
She then says that three days later, he called her over to his hotel room where he exposed his penis to her.
Doe alleges Schrader acknowledged repeatedly that he behaved inappropriately, but continued to make advances on her. She then accuses Schrader or firing her in retaliation for refusing them. She then hired an attorney and eventually a Schrader offered a confidential settlement, with the stipulation it be paid out over the course of 7 months.
According to Doe, he then 'repudiated the binding agreement,' informing her attorney a few weeks later that he would no longer pay it; Schrader subsequently refused to sign the agreement.
Schrader's attorney told Variety their argument is that because he never signed the agreement, it is unenforceable. The attorney also said the complaint was 'loaded with inaccuracies' and 'materially misleading,' and asserted that during the three years Doe worked for Schrader, they attended multiple events and, 'in none of those instances did the plaintiff indicate anything other than enthusiasm about appearing with Mr. Schrader.' The attorney did not explain how that would rebut the accusations of sexual harassment and breach of contract contained in the complaints.
Schrader's attorney told Indiewire that Schrader and Doe kissed twice after a night of drinking but that he backed down after she said no.
The lawsuit seeks a summary judgment ordering Schrader to pay the agreed upon settlement, as well as court costs and disbursements, additional damages, attorneys' fees, and pre-judgment and postjudgment interest.
The post Paul Schrader Accused of Sexually Harassing Former Assistant, Refusing to Honor Settlement appeared first on TheWrap.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sinead O'Connor Biopic Chronicling Singer's Early Years In the Works
The early life and times of late Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor will be the subject of an upcoming biopic. According to Variety, the project covering O'Connor's origin story is being helmed by Irish production company ie: entertainment, which executive produced and worked with the singer on the 2022 O'Connor documentary Nothing Compares; O'Connor died in July 2023 at age 56 of natural causes. Among the reported co-producers on the film are Irish indie film production company Nine Daughters (God's Creatures, Lady Macbeth) and See Saw Films (Slow Horses, The Power of the Dog). At press time spokespeople for O'Connor and ie:entertainment had not returned Billboard's request for comment on the film. More from Billboard Sinéad O'Connor's Will Instructed Children to 'Milk' Her Unheard Music 'For All It's Worth' Kid Cudi Didn't Want to Testify in Diddy Trial, But 'I Knew I Was Helping Cassie' Tyler, The Creator Has Had Enough of Timothée Chalamet in Fiery 'Marty Supreme' Trailer: Watch Variety reported that the movie has been in the works since the release of the earlier doc, with Josephine Decker (Shirley) tapped to direct a script by Irish writer Stacey Gregg (Here Before, Ballywalter), with former Robbie Williams manager and music industry veteran Tim Clark on board as an executive producer through ie: entertainment. BBC Films is funding the film's development. The film will reportedly focus on O'Connor's early life and journey through the music industry, telling the story of how 'one young woman from Dublin took on the world, examining how her global fame may have been built on her talent, but her name became synonymous with her efforts to draw attention to the crimes committed by the Catholic Church and the Irish state.' O'Connor burst onto the music scene in 1987 with her genre agnostic debut album, The Lion and the Cobra, which mixed beat-driven pop, goth rock, confessional folk, shoegaze and ethereal chants. The singer's shocking bald headed look and powerful vocals on songs such as the college rock hit 'Mandinka' and the jangly 'I Want Your (Hands on Me)' made her an instant fascination and landed her a Grammy nomination for best female rock vocal performance. From the beginning, O'Connor was a voice to be reckoned with, never holding her tongue or pulling punches when it came to calling out injustice or the abuse of power. She became a reluctant global superstar thanks to her Grammy-winning 1990 sophomore album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, which featured her beloved cover of the Prince-written 'Nothing Compares 2 U.' The intense scrutiny sometimes proved to be a struggle for O'Connor, who was an outspoken critic of the Catholic church and famously ripped up a picture of then Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in 1992 while saying 'fight the real enemy' nearly a decade before John Paul publicly acknowledged the Catholic Church's long history of child sex abuse. O'Connor — who said she suffered sexual and emotional abuse as a child — was criticized by the likes of Madonna, actor Joe Pesci and the Anti-Defamation League for the action and two weeks later was booed during a 30th anniversary tribute concert for Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden. The singer went on to release eight more albums during a career, jumping from reggae, to traditional Irish songs and fairly straight-ahead pop. The O'Connor biopic will come amidst a recent bumper crop of re-tellings of famous rock and pop legends, including the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody, the Elton John biopic Rocketman, last year's Bob Dylan A Complete Unknown, as well as the upcoming Bruce Springsteen film Deliver Me From Nowhere, a quartet of Beatles movies in 2028 and either a TV series of film version of Madonna's early years. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Grammy-nominated singer forced to cancel tour over poor ticket sales. ‘I'm extremely embarrassed.'
Grammy-nominated singer JP Saxe continued to pull the curtain back and let fans in on his decision to cancel his upcoming North American Fall tour. On July 28, the singer best known for his 2019 collaboration with Julia Michaels, 'If the World Was Ending," posted an urgent message on his TikTok account. He told fans that he had exactly 48 hours to sell 20,000 tickets to improve the prospects of Saxe's tour coming into fruition. Although fans tried to rally and bought a few thousand tickets in conjunction with Saxe working to keep prices low at around $50, it was not to be. On Aug. 1, Saxe posted that he made the decision to cancel the tour despite his fans' best efforts. As Saxe explained to The Canadian Press, he was on the verge of concluding his three-album deal with his record label. So, the label itself wasn't going to cover the costs for his slate of North American shows in the fall. Saxe tried to get creative, looking into booking bigger capacity venues to offset potential losses he couldn't afford to have this time around. Saxe then published an op-ed in Variety to detail the reasons why he was so transparent in how his process went for him. 'As a general rule, I'm always trying to practice sincerity in failure rather than the facade of success,' he wrote. 'I think it's really tempting as an artist, or as anyone, to always be projecting that everything is great at all times. And I find that uninteresting and disingenuous.' He thanked fans for their support and explained that those who attended would be promptly refunded. 'Even though a few thousand more people showed up in just a few days — which was emotional and the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me on the internet — it still wasn't enough to save the tour, and I will be humbly refunding every ticket,' Saxe said. Even if it was not meant to be this time around, Saxe still holds on to the belief that he will sell out an entire tour one day. Related coverage: Christian music singer accused of rape in latest allegations. Accusers want him in prison. Beloved metal band's ex-guitarist blasts former bandmates. 'They sound absolutely horrible.' Inside a Jersey guy's historic 'Jeopardy!' winning streak — and what he's buying with his prize Would you sell your kidney to see a concert? This fest gives you the option. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@ Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Taylor Swift's ‘New Heights' Podcast Live Stream Crashes as Viewership Breaks 1.3 Million People in Real Time: ‘Will Be Back Shortly'
Taylor Swift broke the internet. An hour and 44 minutes into Swift's appearance on the 'New Heights' podcast, the live premiere on YouTube abruptly cut to black. Moments later, the 'New Heights' X account posted that the stream had encountered some technical difficulties and that the episode 'will be back shortly.' More from Variety Taylor Swift Says There Will Be No Bonus Tracks for 'Life of a Showgirl': 'You Couldn't Add One and It Be the Same Album' Taylor Swift Sent Her Mom and Brother to Negotiate For Her Master Recordings: 'Since I Was a Teenager, I've Been Actively Saving Up Money to Buy My Music Back' Taylor Swift's 'The Life of a Showgirl' Sets October Release Date and Debuts Album Cover, Sabrina Carpenter Feature The viewer count for the stream got as high as 1.4 million. The subscriber count on the 'New Heights' YouTube Channel also saw significant growth during the broadcast, rising from 2.85 million subscribers to 2.91 million. Taylor used her appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's podcast to reveal the cover art for her new album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,' which will be released on Oct. 3. She also discussed how her wildly successful Eras Tour was the main source of inspiration for the project. 'This album is about what was going on behind the scenes of my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,' she said. 'It just comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life, and so that effervesence has come through on this record. And like you said, bangers.' She also confirmed that there will be no bonus tracks on 'The Life of a Show Girl.' 'With 'Tortured Poets Department,' I was like here's a data dump of everything I thought, felt, experienced in two or three years. Here's 31 songs. This is 12,' Swift said. 'There's not a thirteenth, there's not other ones coming. This is the record I've been wanting to make for a very long time. I also wanted it to be every single song is on this album for hundreds of reasons, and you couldn't take one out and it be the same album, you couldn't add one and be… It's just right.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in August 2025 What's Coming to Netflix in August 2025
