UPDATE
Dec 18, 2023 8:11 AM CST
A judge has tossed a lawsuit that accused Warren Beatty—though without explicitly naming him—of coercing sexual contact with a teen some 50 years ago. The Guardian reports the suit filed in November 2022 by Kristina Hirsch "clearly referenced" Beatty by describing the defendant as "a renowned and well-known actor and producer" who received as Oscar nod for playing Clyde in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde. The suit was dismissed on Friday with prejudice, so it cannot be refiled in the future. Beverly Hills superior court judge Edward B. Moreton Jr. noted that the law firm who had represented Hirsch withdrew from the case over the summer. Unable to find another firm to take on the case, she had been representing herself. Moreton added that Beatty had not actually been served with the complaint.
Nov 10, 2022 2:00 AM CST
It appears Warren Beatty is now among the Hollywood men accused in recent years of sexual abuse. The actor is not explicitly named in the lawsuit filed this week, but the suit identifies the defendant as having been nominated for an Oscar for playing Clyde in Bonnie & Clyde, which Beatty was. Kristina Charlotte Hirsch says she met Beatty, now 85, when she was a young teen and he was about 35 after a neighbor brought Hirsch to the Los Angeles movie set where the neighbor worked, USA Today reports.
She says the actor paid "undue attention" to her, including commenting on her physical appearance and giving her his phone number, and that following that meeting he called her multiple times, took her on car rides, invited her to the hotel where he was living, and talked to her about losing her virginity, Variety reports. The lawsuit says Hirsch was "initially thrilled" by Beatty's attention, believing she was his girlfriend. Eventually, the suit claims, the actor "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."
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It was 1973, and Hirsch was 14 or 15 at the time. She is suing under California's 2019 law that opened a three-year "lookback window" allowing the statute of limitations to be lifted for claims of child sexual abuse. The window ends on the first of the year. Beatty has not commented on the allegations. As for why the suit does not specifically name him, a lawyer who talked to USAT hypothesized, "My guess is that they hope to give him some greater incentive to settle." (More Warren Beatty stories.)
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