‘The Terminal’ director Sacha Gervasi accused of being a ‘monster’ and ‘predator’ in sexual assault trial
Sacha Gervasi (L) and Diana Lands Nathanson( R).
Emmy-winning director and screenwriter Sacha Gervasi has been accused of being a ‘monster’ and a ‘predator’ in a sexual assault lawsuit brought by an interior designer who worked on the LA home he shares with his heiress wife, Jessica Rothschild.
Diana Lands Nathanson, a friend of Gervasi’s heiress wife, Jessica de Rothschild, accuses the Terminal manager in the lawsuit of multiple instances of harassment and groping since she was first hired in 2014.
She is now seeking a jury trial, where she hopes to win an unspecified amount in punitive damages, claiming she was left in emotional distress.
Lands argues in his lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Sept. 26, that “Sacha Gervasi is a sexual predator.”
Gervasi is pictured with his theater producer wife Jessica de Rothschild
“In public, Gervasi is Hitchcock’s Oscar-nominated director, as well as the screenwriter and/or filmmaker behind Steven Spielberg’s hit film The Terminal, Henry’s Crime starring Keanu Reeves and the remake of How to Marry a Millionaire. with Nicole Kidman.
“In private, Gervasi is a freak,” the lawsuit states.
“Despite being a widely admired figure in the public eye – or perhaps because of the unchecked power that comes with such fame – Gervasi routinely engages in acts of sexual harassment.”
She writes in court documents obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com that she eventually sued because her work for Gervasi and de Rothschild was over and charged him with a series of offenses – including sexual assault , assault, false imprisonment, gender-based violence and creating a hostile work environment.
The lawsuit claims the two were meeting to discuss his payment for his job at the Hollywood Hills home in January 2022 when the assault occurred.
“From the chair where Gervasi was sitting, he pulled Lands into his lap, kissed her neck, and tried to give her the various candies” he still had on his desk over the holidays.
“She struggled to get up from her knees, but Gervasi pulled her onto the table and lay on top of her.
“His hands were on his wrists above his head. He tried to force his tongue into her mouth as he pushed it inside her,’ the lawsuit states.
Lands said she managed to free herself and tried to escape, but he “closed the door so she couldn’t get out.”
The suit continues: “Once again Gervasi pushed his body against Lands and tried to kiss him on the neck and mouth.
‘Lands kept telling her he had to stop and she had to get out of the room and leave. She finally managed to open the door and was able to walk out of the room. He chased Lands to his car and again tried to tell her she wanted him.
She now says that while working at Gervasi’s Hollywood Hills home, “she suffered from constant distress and anxiety, she was unable to sleep normally, and the situation was affecting her health.”
She also claims, “Gervasi committed the prejudicial acts, conduct and omissions noted above in an intentional, fraudulent, malicious and oppressive manner, in willful and conscious disregard of Plaintiff’s rights and with intent and design to harm Plaintiff.”
He further states that Gervasi ‘intentionally deprived the plaintiff of her freedom of movement by locking the door and physically restraining her from leaving the office of her Hollywood Hills home in January 2022 and attempting to trap her at her car in the auto court in the front yard of his Hollywood Hills home.
