Paul Schrader accused of having sexually harassed

Paul Schrader, the scriptwriter of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”, was accused in a legal file of sexually harassing his former assistant and withdrawing from an agreement to pay him a regulation.

The 26 -year -old woman, identified only as Jane Doe, alleges that Schrader seized her and kissed her against her will when they were at the Cannes Film Festival last year for the first of her latest film, “Oh, Canada”. She protested and was able to free herself and flee the play, she said.

Three days later, she alleged that Schrader, 78, summoned her to his hotel room, saying that he was “dying”, then exposed his penis to her.

Women ‘lawyers allege that Schrader’s lawyers have accepted a monetary regulation, but that after a “soul search”, he fell from the agreement. They filed a request before the New York State court to enforce the terms of the agreement and recover the fees and the costs of the lawyers.

Schrader’s lawyer Philip Kessler said Variety Friday, as Schrader never signed the regulations, it cannot be applied.

“We consider this violation of the contractual complaint as desperate, opportunistic and frivolous,” he said.

Kessler also alleged that the report of the allegations of underlying harassment was “loaded with inaccuracies” and “materially misleading” calculation. He said that during a three -and -a half -year working relationship, the assistant went to many dinners and festivals with Schrader.

“In any of these cases, the applicant has indicated nothing other than enthusiasm to appear with Mr. Schrader,” said Kessler.

He also declared that the woman had spoken favorably of Schrader on social networks and that the posts had been withdrawn when her lawyers sent their initial request letter.

In the file, the woman alleges that Schrader has repeatedly professed her love for her and her desire to touch her, both verbally and in writing. The motion quotes e-mails he would have sent him.

“I feel that you are uncomfortable with my affection for you,” he wrote in May 2023, according to the court file. “Sometimes I feel (not today) that you are afraid of touching yourself … I run teeth at the thought that you are afraid of touching yourself.

During her job, the woman alleges that she had to bear “almost constant inappropriate sexual questions and obscene and misogynist comments”.

Her lawyers allege that she was dismissed in September because she refused to nod with Schrader’s advances. During the following months, his lawyers developed an arrangement for Schrader in order to pay a confidential sum to resolve his allegations.

However, they allege that Schrader has rejected the signing of the agreement. After a delay of several weeks, according to his lawyers, Schrader said that he had suffered an illness and decided that he “could not live with himself” if he accepted the agreement.

Women ‘lawyers allege that the agreement was nevertheless binding.

The director “First Reformed” received a Golden Lion from Venice for career production in 2022.