LA Judge: Rose McGowan's Fraud Claim vs. Weinstein Can Go Forward

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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Rose McGowan's claim that Harvey Weinstein tricked her into revealing details of her memoir prior to publication can go forward, but a Los Angeles federal judge tossed other allegations from her lawsuit.  

The former ``Charmed'' actress filed suit in October 2019, accusing Weinstein and attorneys Lisa Bloom and David Boies of conspiring to discredit her and prevent her from publicly disclosing in her memoir ``Brave'' that the now-imprisoned former film producer had raped her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival.  

McGowan's complaint included claims of civil racketeering, fraud, invasion of privacy, computer hacking, illegal recording, conversion and intentional infliction of emotional distress.  

The suit was previously the subject of four motions to dismiss, which the court granted in part and denied in part in December 2020. As part of its earlier ruling, the court rejected in their entirety McGowan's two claims under the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act but provided the frequently outspoken actress with leave to revise those allegations.  

In his written ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II dismissed the revised RICO claims against the defendants due to the lack of a pattern of racketeering activity and other reasons.  

As part of her fraud claim, 48-year-old McGowan contends that as she was preparing to come forward against Weinstein in 2016 and 2017, she was approached by a woman who purported to be an advocate for women. According to the suit, the stranger gained McGowan's confidence and was able to see a draft of ``Brave,'' in which the actress accused Weinstein of rape.  

McGowan says she later discovered that the woman was working for Black Cube, an Israeli private detective firm employed by Weinstein to try to foil publication of sexual misconduct allegations.  

Weinstein, 69, was sentenced in New York last year to 23 years in prison for raping an aspiring actress and committing a criminal sex act against a former production assistant. He currently faces trial in Los Angeles, where he pleaded not guilty in September to sex-related criminal counts involving five women over a nine-year period.  

Weinstein produced such films as `Shakespeare in Love,'' which in 1999 received the best picture Oscar, and ``Pulp Fiction.''


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