The lawsuit does not include Beatty's name but mentions the defendant as the actor who played Clyde in 'Bonnie and Clyde.'
Trigger Warning: The article describes sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Actor Warren Beatty, 85, is being sued for allegedly grooming and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old in 1973. The lawsuit was filed at Los Angeles Superior Court by a woman named Kristina Charlotte Hirsch. In the lawsuit, the 63-year-old claims that the actor raped her nearly 50 years ago when she was a minor, reports PEOPLE.
A Louisiana woman has accused Hollywood legend Warren Beatty of coercing her into a sexual relationship when she was a teenager decades ago. https://t.co/TTlHKwqKOA
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 10, 2022
While the suit does not mention Beatty by name, it clearly references him by describing the defendant as the actor who played Clyde in Bonnie and Clyde and "won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor." Hirsch, who was named in the suit, alleges that she met Beatty on a film set in 1973 and claimed that he "paid undue attention" to her and "commented repeatedly on her looks, gave her his phone number, and instructed her to call him."
Warren Beatty was accused in a lawsuit this week of sexually assaulting a girl in 1973 when she was 14 and 15. The suit alleges that Beatty used his status as a Hollywood star to “groom, manipulate, exploit and coerce sexual contact” with a minor. https://t.co/6MXKni5y1r
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 10, 2022
The suit says that the plaintiff was "thrilled by the attention and invitation from" Beatty and allegedly met up with him many times at a hotel he was living at. The document mentions that over the course of 1973 when Hirsch was 14 and 15, the defendant "used his position and status as an adult and a Hollywood movie star to coerce sexual contact with plaintiff on multiple occasions, including oral sex, simulated sex and finally coerced sexual intercourse with the minor child."
The woman states that due to the alleged actions of the defendant, she has "suffered and continues to suffer great pain of mind and body, shock, emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress including embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliations, and loss of enjoyment of life." She is now seeking damages for the psychological, mental, and emotional distress that "she's suffered and will continue to suffer."
"As a direct result of the molestation by defendant Doe, plaintiff has had issues with her personal life, such as issues with trust and control," the complaint reads, according to The Guardian. "These feelings have caused plaintiff substantial emotional distress, guilt, anxiety, nervousness, and fear."
Warren Beatty accused of coercing teen girl to have sex with him in 1973 https://t.co/mhT45xUqNy pic.twitter.com/EjA2V6Tx7h
— New York Post (@nypost) November 10, 2022
The lawsuit was filed under a California law from 2019 that opened up a new three-year window for adults to temporarily override the statute of limitations and file claims related to sexual abuse that are decades old. The window for lawsuits from people older than 40 expires on January 1, 2023, according to New York Times. The plaintiff's lawyers, Michael Reck and Michael G Finnegan of the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates, want the complaint to speak for itself and refused to comment on it.
Beatty's role in Bonnie and Clyde cemented his status as a maverick filmmaker and actor in what was called the New Hollywood of the 1970s. He went on to become a successful director with the movie Heaven Can Wait and won an Academy Award in 1982 for directing the movie Reds.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/09/warren-beatty-lawsuit-1973-coercion-sex-allegation
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/movies/warren-beatty-sexual-assault-lawsuit.html
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Kevin Winter
