Former Studio 4 acting school students Sarah Titer-Kaplan and Tony Gaal have accused her former supervisor James Franco, as well as co-producers Vince Jolivett and Jay Davis, of “flagrant violations against hundreds of students.”
According to Deadline, according to a 33-page lawsuit filed with the Los Angeles Supreme Court, the management promised students (who paid $ 300 a month for tuition) to include them in the projects of their film company RabbitBandini Productions. But in reality, according to Gaal and Titer-Kaplan, the roles went to those students who were ready to satisfy the particularly extravagant requests of school leaders, or to actresses not from among Studio 4 students.
In particular, the defendants first “encouraged the appearance of topless actresses and students,” then their participation in scenes of a sexual nature, orgies and complete exposure without much need.
“In addition, the defendants forced the plaintiffs and all other students to transfer to the acting school the rights to conduct auditions and shoot nude and sexual scenes with their participation. As the plaintiffs were told, Franco intended to look at all the materials of the auditions in person, which in fact implies the right to store, process and use materials of an explicit nature at the discretion of the defendants, ”the lawsuit said.
The school stopped working at the end of 2017.
It is noted that the plaintiffs require Franco, Jolivett and Davis to apologize, recover damages and transmit videos, and also want the producers to receive training on combating sexual harassment and developing a culture of good behavior.
In turn, the lawyer Franco drew attention to the fact that accusations of harassment of his client had been put forward earlier, but were refuted. The lawyer emphasizes: a poorly composed complaint leaked to the press even before it was registered by the court. The actor, the defense party is sure, will be able to protect himself and will demand damages for the “obscene” lawsuit filed solely to attract attention.
Wasting money and time vs discrimination
A day earlier it became known that the former assistant to Hollywood actor Robert De Niro Graham Chase Robinson accused him of sexual discrimination.
It is noteworthy that at first De Niro filed a lawsuit against Robinson: management accuses the woman of embezzlement of the organization. According to the process materials referenced by Variety, Robinson paid for personal expenses (transportation and meals in expensive restaurants) with a corporate credit card, and also awarded airline bonus miles totaling $ 125 thousand.
She is also charged with idleness at the workplace - an employee allegedly looked at the Netflix office (according to the case file, in January, for example, she devoted four days to watching 55 episodes of the Friends sitcom), despite the fact that her salary was $ 300 thousand. year. Robinson is demanding $ 6 million in compensation for wasting money and time.
However, according to the employee herself, De Niro launched a lawsuit to discredit her and prevent her from defending her own rights. Robinson requires the actor $ 12 million in compensation for moral damage: while she served as chief assistant, he allegedly behaved inappropriately.
So, in the lawsuit it is mentioned that the actor insulted the employees: he did not skimp on sexist remarks, insults and rude jokes, and he called the assistant “office wife”.
- AFP
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The business side of their relationship, according to the plaintiff, also raises questions: the ex-assistant emphasizes that she was paid less than her male colleagues. At the same time, Robinson allegedly was entrusted with "female" responsibilities in the household.
Robinson claims that Robert De Niro ignores the fact that workplace discrimination is against the law. According to the former assistant to the actor, he does not accept the idea of equality between men and women and adheres to outdated views on this issue.
In April, an employee filed for dismissal and, through her lawyer, notified the company that she was considering filing a lawsuit. In response to this, Robinson believes, De Niro hastened to accuse the former assistant of embezzlement in order to undermine her reputation. Meanwhile, representatives of the actor note that all the charges of Robinson are "beyond the bounds of absurdity."