Filmmaker Paul Schrader has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by his former assistant. Despite agreeing to a confidential settlement with this individual in February of this year, Schrader has apparently reneged on that deal according to recently filed civil court documents. In a motion filed the night of Thursday, April 3 in New York State Supreme Court, the 26-year-old assistant, going by “Jane Doe,” alleged that Schrader is in breach of contract for violating the terms of the settlement.
Doe stated that the alleged assault and harassment took place between 2021 and 2024. In a statement shared with NBC News, Doe’s attorney, Menaka Fernando, said, “Ms. Doe is simply seeking to enforce the settlement agreement between the parties resolving her sexual harassment and sexual assault claims.”
Speaking with IndieWire over the phone on Friday, April 4, Schrader’s attorney, Phillip Kessler, alleged that there were two kisses during nights of drinking — one at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024 and another some months prior — but that Schrader backed down after his advances were unreciprocated.
In the motion filed on Thursday, Doe states that Schrader sexually assaulted her at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, when he “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.”
Schrader was at Cannes 2024 to premiere his latest film “Oh, Canada,” but Kessler denies the sexual assault allegations pertaining to the incident described in the hotel room. He also told IndieWire that the confidential settlement apparently agreed upon in February was “unsigned” and therefore “legally baseless.” The director’s legal team intends to fight these accusations vigorously.
The court documents also went into detail on Doe’s entire tenure as Schrader’s assistant from May 2021 through September 2024, when she was terminated. The motion claims Schrader “used his position of power over Ms. Doe (who is 52 years younger than him) to force her to work in a sexually hostile, intimidating, and humiliating environment on a daily, if not hourly, basis.”
Describing another incident that took place at Cannes, the motion claims, “Defendant Schrader opened the door to his hotel room wearing nothing but an open bathrobe with his penis fully exposed.” It continued, “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.”
The motion also alleges that a number of emails were sent from Schrader to Doe that acknowledged his conduct was “unwelcome and offensive” to his assistant and that after, Doe was fired for refusing Schrader’s advances.
In the aftermath, the motion states, Doe retained legal counsel and, following months of negotiations, was able to reach a settlement with Schrader’s lawyers in February of this year. Doe alleges that this settlement was agreed to in writing and the payment was to be parsed out over seven months.
However, the motion goes on to say that last month, Doe’s legal team was reached over the phone by Schrader’s attorney, who reported that his client had been ill, had done some “soul searching,” and decided not to go forward with payment to Doe for the full amount allegedly agreed upon. This is what prompted Doe’s recent filing in court. The settlement amount remains confidential with details redacted in court filings.
Doe’s lawyer, Menaka Fernando, issued this statement to IndieWire: “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.”
Additional reporting by Ryan Lattanzio and Christian Blauvelt.
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