'Taxi Driver' screenwriter Paul Schrader accused of sexual harassment
What's the story
Acclaimed screenwriter and director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) has been accused of sexual harassment by his former assistant.
The 26-year-old woman, identified as Jane Doe, has accused Schrader (78) of assaulting her at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
She claims he grabbed her and kissed her against her will at the event.
She further alleges that three days later he called her to his hotel room and exposed his penis to her.
Legal dispute
Alleged breach of settlement agreement
The woman claims that Schrader's lawyers agreed to a monetary settlement for the harassment allegations, but the director backed out after some "soul searching."
Subsequently, her attorneys filed a motion in a New York state court to enforce the agreement's terms and recover attorneys' fees and costs.
However, Schrader's lawyer, Philip Kessler, told Variety that since Schrader never signed the settlement, it can't be enforced.
Counterclaims
Kessler criticized the harassment allegations as 'inaccurate'
Kessler blasted the breach of contract claim as "desperate, opportunistic and frivolous."
He further alleged that the allegations are "loaded with inaccuracies" and "materially misleading."
Kessler also stressed that over their three-and-a-half-year professional relationship, the assistant accompanied Schrader to several dinners and festivals.
"In none of those instances did the plaintiff indicate anything other than enthusiasm about appearing with Mr. Schrader."
Complaints
'Trapped her inside, grabbed her arms...'
Per Doe's filing, during her tenure as Schrader's assistant between May 2021 and September 2024, he "used his position of power to force her to work in a sexually hostile, intimidating, and humiliating environment..."
At Cannes last year, he "demanded [she] go to his hotel room, trapped her inside, grabbed her arms, and thrust his face into hers to kiss her against her will, and restrained her to keep her in the room before she managed to...flee the hotel room."
Case details
Further allegations of harassment and subsequent firing
In the filing, the woman alleged that Schrader repeatedly expressed his love for her and his desire to touch her, both verbally and in writing.
She also claimed that during her employment, she had to endure "near-constant inappropriate sexual questions and lewd and misogynistic commentary."
Her attorneys alleged she was fired in September 2024 because she refused to acquiesce to Schrader's advances.
Email evidence
'I cringe at the thought you fear...'
The woman shared emails purportedly sent by Schrader in which he expressed his love for her.
"I sense you are uncomfortable with my affection for you," he wrote in May 2023.
"Sometimes I get the feeling (not today) that you are afraid I might touch you... I cringe at the thought you fear I might touch you."
Settlement dispute
Schrader's refusal to sign the settlement agreement
Following her termination, the woman's attorneys arranged for the writer-director to pay a sum to settle her allegations.
However, they allege that Schrader delayed signing the agreement and later claimed he had gone through an illness and "couldn't live with himself" if he accepted the agreement.
Despite this, her attorneys maintain that the agreement was binding.
The settlement amount remains confidential.