Legendary filmmaker Paul Schrader, the screenwriter behind Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, and Raging Bull, sexually assaulted and harassed his personal assistant on multiple occasions, the 26-year-old woman claims in civil court documents obtained by The Independent.
The bombshell allegations emerged after Schrader allegedly reneged on a confidential settlement he agreed to in February, according to an affidavit filed by “Jane Doe,” as the former assistant is identified in a motion filed late Thursday night in New York State Supreme Court.
Attorney Menaka Fernando, one of the members of Doe’s legal team, told The Independent, “As stated in our motion, Ms. Doe is simply seeking to enforce the settlement agreement between the parties resolving her sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. We have no further comment at this time and ask that the media respect Ms. Doe’s privacy.”
In a phone call on Friday morning, Schrader’s attorney, Philip Kessler, told The Independent that he had just received the filing and was still going through it.
“But, I can tell you that this looks to me to be a desperate, frivolous, and opportunistic claim,” Kessler said. “The underlying intentions of the plaintiff here contain many very material inaccuracies, and are obviously designed to paint Mr. Schrader in a very false light, in an effort to intimidate and coerce him into settling. And just to be very clear, Mr. Schrader never had sex in any form with the plaintiff, nor did he ever attempt such a thing. We will vigorously defend this.”
Schrader, 78, “used his position of power over Ms. Doe to sexually assault her, by luring her into a hotel room and forcibly grabbing her and kissing her, despite her verbal protests,” says the motion, which is an attempt to enforce the settlement. “Three days later, he forced Ms. Doe into his hotel room, under the guise of packing his bags for him, and he exposed his penis to her.”
During Doe’s tenure, which lasted from May 2021 through her termination in September 2024, Schrader “force[d] her to work in a sexually hostile, intimidating, and humiliating environment on a daily, if not hourly, basis,” the motion states.
In May 2024, while premiering his latest movie, Oh, Canada, at the Cannes Film Festival, Schrader allegedly “demanded Ms. Doe go to his hotel room, trapped her inside, grabbed her arms, and thrust his face into hers to kiss her against her will, and then further restrained her in an effort to keep her in the room before she managed to free herself and flee the hotel room.”
“Three days later, Ms. Doe returned to Defendant Schrader’s hotel room after receiving numerous calls and angry text messages, in which Defendant Schrader claimed that he was ‘dying’ and could not pack his own bags,” Doe’s motion contends. “Afraid, Ms. Doe reluctantly acquiesced. Upon arriving, however, Defendant Schrader opened the door to his hotel room wearing nothing but an open bathrobe with his penis fully exposed. As Ms. Doe attempted to pack Mr. Schrader’s bags in terrified silence, he repeatedly commented, ‘I am so sweaty. I sweated through the bedsheets. Feel how wet they are.’ Ms. Doe packed his bags as quickly as she could, and left.”
Schrader knew his behavior was “unwelcome and offensive,” as evidenced by numerous emails he sent to Doe, according to the motion.
“I sense you recoil every time I have the impulse to touch you,” he allegedly wrote to her last year.
Schrader fired Doe after she refused to succumb to his sexual advances, the motion states.
“[O]n September 23, 2024, he retaliated against her and terminated her employment,” it says. “Two days later, in full acknowledgment of his unlawful and predatory behavior, he wrote in an email to her, ‘So I f**ked up. Big time... 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.’”
About 10 days later, Schrader posted a help wanted ad on Facebook for a new assistant, calling the position a “s**t and ice cream job.”
“There will be days when you would be willing to pay me,” the posting read. “Then there will be menial tasks. I hope to be in pre-production in December, shooting late January–at that point work would be on set and on demand 24/7. The job would commence on acceptance. It may involve travel. Applicant should have college education and knowledge of film history. Applicant should live in greater NYC area. Computer skills essential. If you can lug film cans (remember those?) you’re strong enough.”
In 2017, Schrader was criticized for saying he was more offended by Weinstein’s reputation for recutting films than for the raft of sexual assault and rape allegations against the Miramax honcho, who is now in prison, later insisting his remarks had been misinterpreted.
Since Schrader’s “brutal attack” on Doe, his “exposure of his genitals to her, and his countless other acts of sexual harassment,” she has experienced nightmares, extreme anxiety, and trauma, and “has withdrawn almost completely from her former life,” the motion states.
Last month, Schrader’s attorney contacted Doe’s legal team and said his client had been ill, and that during that period, he had done some “soul searching.” As a result, he no longer wanted to pay Doe the amount agreed to under the settlement agreement, the motion goes on.
“According to Defense Counsel, Defendant Schrader also stated that he could not ‘live with himself’ if he performed his obligations under the Settlement Agreement,” the motion says.
Doe then filed Thursday night’s motion to compel Schrader to comply with his obligations, revealing the allegations publicly.
The amount of the settlement remains confidential, and details have been redacted in court filings.
