Paul Schrader, who notably wrote the films Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, has been accused of alleged sexual assault and misconduct by his former assistant. According to the Los Angeles Times he is being accused of alleged sexual assault, sexual harassment, retaliation, and reneging on a confidential settlement deal. 

April 3rd is when the former assistant, who is referred to as Jane Doe, legally filed her claims. Variety reported that there were multiple occasions on which the assault allegedly occurred. “One alleged incident occurred shortly after last year’s Oh, Canada premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where she claims that Schrader exposed his penis to her in his hotel room. She also claimed that Schrader’s lawyer agreed on a monetary settlement after the alleged abuse, but after some ‘soul searching,’ he pulled out of the deal. The Jane Doe’s lawyers then filed a motion in New York state court to enforce the settlement and recoup litigation expenses.” This instance is where the reneging allegation comes from. 

Shortly after these allegations became public, Schrader took it upon himself to make a statement. Movieweb gathered the statement and relayed that Schrader had said, “In the fall of last year, a lawyer I had never heard of, representing my former assistant, sent me a letter demanding that I pay my former assistant millions of dollars or she would go public with sensational, false and misleading accusations about our relationship and conduct via a lawsuit. I understood that the mere assertion of such accusations would be damaging and hurtful. As a result, I nearly committed to settling the claims by paying a small fraction of the amount…Upon reflection, I changed my mind, which I believe I was legally entitled to do, and declined to sign the written settlement agreement the lawyers had prepared.” He went on to deny the accusations and said that he has nothing to hide about his conduct.

There is no further update on the allegations or if the case will be brought to trial.