Julia Ormond Looks for Court Order to Arrest Michael Ovitz

Logo text

Lawyers for Julia Ormond are looking to have the court issue a bench warrant for the arrest of CAA cofounder Michael Ovitz for walking out of a deposition after being prodded about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Ovitz was asked about his continuing association with Epstein after the disgraced financier’s conviction for sex crimes. At one point, Ovitz stopped engaging. “I’m not going to discuss anything about Jeffrey Epstein,” he said. “You can ask all the questions you want, you’re going to get no answers.”

The line of questioning related to Ovitz’s assertion that he would’ve cut ties with Weinstein had he known about the former movie mogul’s history of sexual misconduct. Ormond, who rose to prominence in the 90s after starring in Legends of the Fall, First Knight and Sabrina, claims CAA’s top brass turned a blind eye to Weinstein’s crimes and failed to warn her about him before a 1995 meeting that led to her being assaulted. Ovitz was CAA’s chairman in the period immediately preceding the alleged incident.

In the deposition, Ovitz said he would’ve investigated any allegation of sexual misconduct by Weinstein against one of his clients. Asked what he would’ve done if the claim was substantiated, Ovitz replied that CAA “surely wouldn’t have done business” with him.

“I didn’t like his methodology of business,” Ovitz added. “He was a bully and — and he and I got into it multiple times. I talked to him as little as possible.”

Lawyers for Ormond then turned to Ovitz’s relationship with Epstein. Tensions flared when Ovitz was questioned about whether he continued his relationship with the disgraced financier after he learned that Epstein was convicted for sex crimes. He stood up from his chair, pointed at Ormond’s lawyer and said, “I’m done with this. Okay?” He stressed, “You are out of line.”

Ormond’s legal team says the walkout was the culmination of a months-long pattern of contempt for court proceedings rather than an isolated incident, pointing to Ovitz ignoring a subpoena and failing to appear for a deposition in November. They’re asking the court to issue a warrant for his arrest until he appears for another deposition and hands over documents relating to his communications with Weinstein.

CAA has maintained that the case doesn’t concern Ovitz, whose legal fees are being paid for by the agency.

Friendly communications between Ovitz and Epstein surfaced earlier this year when the Justice Department released a trove of materials on the disgraced financier. The emails from 2012 showed that the pair planned to meet at Epstein’s Manhattan home and off the coast of St. Barts.