Over the weekend, a story broke on several outlets that famed director and screenwriter Paul Schrader was getting “Me-too-ed.”
Eight years after the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and the cancellation of many men in the industry, you’d think we’d have learned something by now.
Still, I’m reading comments on line from outsiders with no evidence or connection to the story suddenly declaring, “I always knew he was a perv.”
Well, get a grip.
Schrader, 78, is being sued by a former assistant called Jane Doe for not going through with a settlement agreement after she claimed sexual harassment. She’s not suing for sexual harassment, which is important to remember here.
Sources tell me Schrader, famous for working with Martin Scorsese on movies like “Raging Bull” and “Mean Streets,” and directing his own important films, had the option of settling with Jane Doe or fighting her in court.
An agreement was drawn up, with the stipulation both parties had to sign it to make it effective. Jane Doe signed, Schrader at the last minute did not.
Ultimately, he exercised his right to fight her. He didn’t want to settle, even for the small sum involved. He knows he’s innocent. Sources tell me the sex harassment complaint was not about rape, or having unwanted sex, and or any sex.
Twice, in a six month period, after a friendly dinner with drinks, Schrader kissed the young woman goodbye, on the lips.
Everything else she claims — including exposing himself in a bathrobe — he denies.
Does it really seem possible that Schrader — after all the bathrobe scandals with Weinstein, Charlie Rose, and others — would even think of trying something like that?
My source says the woman, who worked for Schrader from 2021 to 2024, was probably making “sixty to sixty five thousand dollars” a year while the director was in production for the movie, “Oh Canada.” They say when that project ended, and Schrader cut back her salary until his next film, that things turned sour.
My source says, “She had no money and figured this was the quickest way to get it.”
Curiously, the case filed now just concerns the paper Schrader didn’t sign, to settle any disagreements. Jane Doe never sued him in the past for anything. She never called the police. She did, however, send “a lot of emails” in the weeks after each kiss in which she expressed admiration, called Schrader her “mentor,” and said how lucky she was to work for him.
Schrader’s lawyer, Paul Kessler, told NBC that the case to force Schrader to sign now is “legally frivolous.” He said it’s “desperate and opportunistic.” Kessler said, “I can tell you that Mr. Schrader never had sex with the plaintiff, nor did he attempt to have sex with the plaintiff,” Kessler told NBC News. “Much of what has been alleged has been taken very substantially out of context.”
Friends of Schrader say Jane Doe accompanied Schrader to a multitude of events — again, just as a companion.
For years, Schrader has been the caregiver for his wife, actress Mary Beth Hurt, who suffers from an extreme form of dementia. In the last couple of years he moved her into a care facility and has his own small apartment in the same building. He’s also had his health problems — long COVID and heart trouble.
The situation with Hurt is full time, and Schrader has just enough latitude to go make a small film. By coincidence, when I met him at a screening last fall and asked about Hurt, he told me that her great friend, Glenn Close, had recently come to visit. “Mary Beth didn’t know her at all. After Glenn left, Mary Beth said, ‘Oh, what a nice lady.'”
So let’s wait and see the full case here. Let’s prove we have indeed learned something and became more nuanced in the last 8 years.
More to come…
