Emmy-winning director and screenwriter Sacha Gervasi subjected an interior designer to months of sexual harassment — all while expecting his second child, a new lawsuit alleges.
Gervasi is best known as the director of 2012’s Oscar-nominated “Hitchcock”, which starred Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johansson and is also the father of former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell’s teenage daughter Bluebell. He “fondled” and harassed Diana Lands Nathanson on multiple occasions while awaiting the birth of his first child with wife Jessica de Rothschild, Lands has claimed.
Gervasi and de Rothschild welcomed their baby via surrogate together in December 2021, sources confirmed to Page Six, but just weeks later, on January 3, 2022, Lands, a divorced mom-of-three, alleged that Gervasi pinned her down on a table, attacked her and briefly imprisoned her.
In a statement to Page Six, Gervasi’s attorney Jeremiah Reynolds called the lawsuit “nothing but a desperate attempt to distract from the lawsuit already filed by my clients against Ms. Lands for trying to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in property they paid her to purchase on their behalf and for the damage and destruction she negligently caused to their home.”
A source close to Gervasi also claimed to Page Six Friday that the pair exchanged friendly text messages about the best place to get burgers in Malibu on January 3, followed by hundreds of “warm” messages complete with “heart emojis” in the months that followed.
Gervasi and de Rosthschild had also filed suit against Lands in May to recover nearly half a million dollars worth of property she had bought on their behalf, which Page Six has seen.
Lands, 57, claimed in her suit, seen by Page Six, that Gervasi, 56, whom she had briefly dated in the 1990s, regularly “groped” her and made inappropriate sexual advances.
However, she said she believed she could overlook this as she had become friends with his wife and had already worked on two projects for them.
Indeed, the suit — which claimed Gervais, the screenwriter of Steven Spielberg’s 2004 movie ‘The Terminal’, was a “monster” and a “predator” — alleged: “Lands knew from her own experience that groping, rubbing, and fondling women was part of Gervasi’s modus operandi.
Nonetheless, she then signed up for a “significant remodel and redesign” of the couple’s Hollywood Hills home.
However, on July 9, 2021, Lands alleged that things escalated after she and Gervasi met with a contractor on the house.
Following the meeting, she claimed in the lawsuit, which was first reported by the Daily Mail: “Lands opened the car door and turned to say “good-bye.”
“They hugged, and then Gervasi started to hug tighter, saying how beautiful Lands was and that they should have been together, and “couldn’t they figure out how to be together?”
Gervasi then allegedly tried to kiss Lands, and “when she refused, Gervasi pushed her against the car and forced his body against hers.”
The lawsuit’s allegations continued: “Gervasi pushed his erect penis against Lands’ body and tried to stick his tongue in her mouth.
“Lands kept turning her head and saying, “No, don’t do that.”
But “while Gervasi was pushing against Lands, he put his hands on her breasts then moved them up her dress and onto her buttocks, then moved her underwear aside to get his hands between her legs.
“Again, Lands told him to stop and he would not listen.”
Eventually, though, the lawsuit stated: “Lands was able to push him off enough to get into the car and close the door.”
She said she drove away ‘”shaking and in tears”, and told friends about the alleged assault.
Although Lands said she was “appalled” by Gervasi’s conduct, she continued to work on the project as he was not due to be back in LA until December 2021, when the project was due to be finished, some five months later. She also considered de Rothschild a “close friend”, and had not yet been paid anything for her services.
When it became clear the Hollywood Hills house would not be ready for December, Gervasi and de Rothschild asked Lands to furnish and design their Malibu home. During one meeting for this house, Gervais allegedly, once again, made “repeated” advances toward Lands, the suit alleged.
The suit then said that on January 3, 2022, weeks after their new baby was born, Gervasi attacked Lands at the Hollywood Hills property. They met to discuss plans, but instead he tried to force feed her holiday candy.
The suit stated: “From the chair where Gervasi was sitting, he pulled Lands down onto his lap, put his hand between her legs, kissed her neck, and tried to feed her the various candies. She fought to get up off his lap, but Gervasi pulled her down onto the table and laid on top of her. His hands were on her wrists above her head. He tried to force his tongue into her mouth as he was thrusting into her.
“Lands managed to get out from under him and as she tried to leave, he closed the door so she could not get out. Once again, Gervasi pushed his body against Lands, and tried to kiss her on the neck and mouth.
“Lands kept telling him he had to stop and she needed to get out of the room and leave.She finally got the door open and was able to get out of the room. He chased Lands to her car and tried again telling her that she wanted it.”
The suit added that although Lands “made sure she was never alone with Gervasi again under any circumstances”, she continued to work for him and his wife as they had not yet paid her for months of work on both their Hollywood Hills and Malibu homes and she did not want them to “stiff” her.
“However, she suffered constant distress and anxiety, he was unable to sleep normally, and the situation was affecting her health,” the suit claimed.
Lands is now suing for $677,000 for unpaid design work, alongside attorneys fees, costs and interest.
She is also suing for reasonable damages to cover her emotional distress and punitive damages, her attorneys told Page Six.
Gervasi’s attorney Reynolds claimed that Lands offered not to file sexual harassment charges against Gervasi if he “agreed to pay several hundred thousand dollars more to her – despite the fact she was already wrongfully withholding nearly half a million dollars in cash and property belonging to my clients.
“When my clients refused to be shaken down, Ms. Lands proceeded with these demonstrably false claims about Sacha Gervasi.
“We have hundreds of text messages and numerous witnesses that will disprove Ms. Lands’ allegations in a court of law and fully vindicate Mr. Gervasi,” Reynolds added.
To this, Lands’ attorney, Bryan Freedman told Page Six: “As a single mother who worked tirelessly for Ms. Rothschild and Mr. Gervasi, my client was not only not paid for her work but also sued and sexually harassed bullies who have used their power, privilege and
money to avoid responsibility. I look forward to their day of judgement in front of a jury.”
To this, Lands’ attorney, Bryan Freedman told Page Six: “As a single mother who worked tirelessly for Ms. Rothschild and Mr. Gervasi, my client was not only not paid for her work but also sued and sexually harassed bullies who have used their power, privilege and
money to avoid responsibility. I look forward to their day of judgement in front of a jury.”
Along with directing “The Terminal,” Gervasi also directed the 2010 documentary Anvil, about the Canadian heavy metal band of the same name, which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.
In 2019 he won an Emmy for ‘My Dinner With Hervé’, starring Peter Dinklage as French actor Hervé Villechaize.