Filmmaker Paul Schrader, the screenwriter behind “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” has been accused of sexually assaulting and harassing his much younger assistant and, after firing her in the fall, reneging on a settlement.
According to documents filed in New York State 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 screenwriter 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 room by claiming he was “dying,” then proceeded to expose himself.
Throughout their working relationship, Doe says she was subjected to “near-constant inappropriate sexual questions and lewd and misogynistic commentary.” Among those alleged remarks, Schrader repeatedly professed his “desire to touch” her, both verbally and in writing, while seemingly admitting it was clear she was uncomfortable, according to the court filing.
In a May 2023 email, included in the documents, Schrader allegedly wrote, “I sense you are uncomfortable with my affection for you. Sometimes I get the feeling … that you are afraid I might touch you.”
After repeatedly rejecting Schrader’s advances, she claims she was fired in September. Two days later, he allegedly emailed her to admit that he’d “f—ed up.”
“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,” he allegedly wrote.
Months later, Doe claims he agreed to her terms and conditions for a confidential settlement, and sent him a document for him to sign. But by late March, Schrader refused to “perform his obligations under the Settlement Agreement,” resulting in a breach of contract.
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.”
“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
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