Harvey Weinstein was sued on Friday for allegedly using a New York attorney to spy on actress Paz de la Huerta, who has accused the disgraced producer of raping her.
The complaint accuses attorney Michael F. Rubin of seeking to gain information from de la Huerta last fall, while also discouraging her from pursuing criminal charges against Weinstein.
At the time, she was represented by attorney Aaron Filler. Filler’s firm — Tensor Law — filed the lawsuit Friday against Rubin, Weinstein, and the Weinstein Company, alleging that they coordinated in an effort to thwart the prosecution. Filler also blames Rubin for persuading de la Huerta to drop him as her attorney, and contends that Rubin interfered with his contractual relationship and potentially deprived him of $20 million in legal fees.
In an interview, Rubin said that, “Every allegation in that lawsuit is false.”
He also said he had no connection to Weinstein.
“I don’t know Harvey Weinstein. I never met Harvey Weinstein,” Rubin said. “I had nothing but Paz de la Huerta’s interests in mind. This guy is upset he lost a potential client.”
A Weinstein spokesperson said it was “insanity” to suggest that Weinstein any involvement in the matter.
Filler told Variety that he brought the suit in part to determine why the Manhattan D.A.’s probe of de la Huerta’s rape allegations appears to have stalled.
“Our purpose is to investigate what caused the N.Y. D.A. criminal investigation and criminal prosecution to stall, and to call TWC/HW to account if they used extra-legal means as we believe they did,” Filler said in an email.
The complaint cites the New Yorker’s reporting on extensive measures Weinstein allegedly took to counter his accusers, including allegedly hiring former Mossad agents to collect information from them under false pretenses.
The complaint alleges that Rubin approached de la Huerta last fall, and conducted an extensive interview with her in Spain and attempted to get her psychiatric records. The suit contends that Rubin told her she had no case and tried to persuade her to drop her allegations, which are under consideration by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The suit also alleges that Rubin called New York prosecutors and urged prosecutors not to indict Weinstein.
Weinstein is identified as an “undisclosed principal” in Rubin’s alleged misconduct, though the complaint does not cite any specific link between Rubin and Weinstein.
The suit alleges that Rubin interfered with potential civil suits that could have netted $60 million — of which $20 million would have gone as contingency fees to Tensor Law.
Rubin said the lawsuit was part of Filler’s “continuing campaign of defamation against me and my law firm, and is nothing but an attempt to get publicity for him. I intend to respond forcefully in the courts in both New York and California at the appropriate time.”
Filler said the firm would donate any damages from the suit to de la Huerta and the Time’s Up campaign, in a 50/50 split.
De la Huerta is now represented by attorney Carrie Goldberg, who has also raised concerns that the D.A.’s investigation appears to have stalled.
De La Huerta Michael Rubin by gmaddaus on Scribd
