NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Paul Schrader, the writer of 鈥淭axi Driver鈥 and director of 鈥淎merican Gigolo,鈥 has been accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting his former personal assistant, firing her when she wouldn't acquiesce to advances and reneging on a settlement that was meant to keep the allegations confidential.
The former assistant, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, sued the filmmaker and his production company on Thursday. She is seeking a judge's order to enforce the agreement after Schrader said he couldn鈥檛 go through with it. The terms, including a monetary payment, were not disclosed.
鈥淭his is an open-and-shut settlement enforcement matter,鈥 Doe's lawyer, Gregory Chiarello, wrote in court papers accompanying the breach of contract claim.
Schrader's lawyer, Philip J. Kessler, deemed the lawsuit 鈥渄esperate, opportunistic and frivolous" and said many of the allegations in it are false or materially misleading.
鈥淲e absolutely deny that there was ever a sexual relationship of any kind between Mr. Schrader and his former assistant, and we deny that Mr. Schrader ever made an attempt to have a sexual relationship of any kind with his former assistant," Kessler said.
The lawsuit, filed in a New York court, laid bare allegations that the confidential settlement between Doe, 26, and Schrader, 78, had been intended to keep under wraps.
They include her claim that the filmmaker trapped her in his hotel room, grabbed her arms and kissed her against her will last year while they were promoting his latest film, at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Two days later, the lawsuit said, Schrader called Doe repeatedly and sent her angry text messages claiming he was 鈥渄ying鈥 and couldn't pack his bags. When Doe arrived to help, the lawsuit said, Schrader exposed his genitals to her as he opened his hotel room door wearing nothing but an open bathrobe.
Doe alleges Schrader fired her last September after she again rejected his advances. Soon after, the lawsuit said, he sent her an email expressing fear that he'd become "a Harvey Weinstein鈥 in her mind. Weinstein, the movie mogul turned #MeToo villain, was convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022 and is awaiting an April 15 retrial in his New York rape case.
According to the lawsuit, Schrader agreed to the settlement on Feb. 5 but changed his mind after an illness and 鈥渟oul searching.鈥 Schrader conveyed through his lawyers last month that he 鈥渃ould not live with the settlement,鈥 the lawsuit said. Kessler disputed that.
鈥淭he agreement that they're trying to enforce against Mr. Schrader, in plain English, required both parties to sign it before it became legally effective,鈥 Kessler said. 鈥淢r. Schrader declined to sign it. It's frankly as simple as that.鈥
Doe worked for Schrader from 2021 until 2024, according to the lawsuit. During that time, Kessler said, she posted on social media about how much she loved her job and referred to Schrader as an extraordinary mentor and 鈥渕y man.鈥
Schrader rose to fame through his collaborations with director Martin Scorsese, . Robert De Niro鈥檚 iconic line, 鈥淵ou talkin' to me,鈥 is seared into the lexicon and ranked among the American Film Institute鈥檚 all-time greatest movie quotes.
Schrader co-wrote Scorsese's 1980 boxing drama 鈥淩aging Bull,鈥 also starring De Niro, and authored his 1988 religious epic 鈥淭he Last Temptation of Christ" and his 1999 paramedic drama 鈥淏ringing Out the Dead.鈥
He's also directed 23 of his own films, highlighted by 1980鈥檚 鈥淎merican Gigolo,鈥 which he also wrote. He received his only Academy Award nomination for writing 鈥淔irst Reformed,鈥 a 2017 thriller about a small-town minister that he also directed.
Schrader told The Associated Press last year that he made 鈥淥h, Canada鈥 鈥 the film that Doe said brought them to Cannes 鈥 as he after a string of hospitalizations for long COVID.
In 2016, Schrader told The Hollywood Reporter him after he ranted on Facebook about Donald Trump鈥檚 then-looming presidency. Schrader wrote Trump鈥檚 election was 鈥渁 call to violence鈥 and said people should be 鈥渨illing to take arms.鈥
In 2023, he trashed the Oscars as scrambling "to be woke" with diversity efforts and more international voters. And in 2021, in the wake of #MeToo, he decried so-called 鈥渃ancel culture," telling it was 鈥渟o infectious, it鈥檚 like the Delta virus.鈥
鈥淚f your friend says, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e saying these terrible things about me that aren鈥檛 true鈥, you鈥檙e afraid to come to their defense, because you might catch that virus too,鈥 Schrader told the entertainment news outlet.
