Earlier, we reported about Paul Schrader facing a sexual assault accusation from his erstwhile assistant, reportedly named Jane Doe. She claimed that the Taxi Driver screenwriter sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. Now, Schrader has responded to the allegation. In a letter, Schrader described it as a "false and misleading" claim. It reads, "Out of the blue, 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 my conduct via a lawsuit."
Schrader then explained that he felt legal entitlement to withdraw from a settlement, as he found it a potentially ineffective move if both the plaintiff and he not signed it. He then elucidated his most 'physically ‘intimate’ experiences' with the accuser and claimed that they kissed each other but did not have "sex in any form".
Schrader wrote, "The first kiss was in December 2023 in a New York bar after we had both been drinking. She continued working actively with me thereafter. She did not indicate to me that she had been troubled by the kiss, much less that she preferred to change or end our relationship." He added, "The second kiss took place in May 2024 at Cannes where she had accompanied me for the premiere of my most recent film. Once again, after we had been drinking together, I kissed her. This time she indicated displeasure. I never attempted to kiss her again and I also apologized. Even after Cannes, Plaintiff expressed emphatically her desire to continue to work, dine and travel with me."
At the end of the letter, the screenwriter acknowledged that the current discourse about sexual assault in Hollywood would mean him being "presumed guilty", although he expressed his confidence in the truth prevailing should it go to trial.
Schrader added, "I have nothing to hide about my conduct — and that includes my decision not to yield to the pressure of my former assistant’s threat to make her sensational allegations public, a threat that she and her lawyers have now executed."