Former Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein, now in prison after being convicted of sex crimes, last week sued Jeep‘s U.S. parent company over a 2019 crash in which he flipped a Wrangler while trying to avoid a deer.
Weinstein is seeking $5 million in damages, saying the accident in Bedford, N.Y., left him “catastrophically injured and rendered paralyzed” with “significant and continuing conscious pain and suffering” from what his lawyer called “severe spine and back injuries.”
According to the complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Weinstein was wearing his seat belt when the brakes on the 2017 Wrangler failed as he approached the deer, causing a rollover.
Weinstein said the defendant, FCA US LLC, now part of Stellantis, had provided him the “unreasonably dangerous” vehicle in exchange for product placement in one of his films.
Gary Kavulich, a lawyer for Weinstein, said in a statement to Reuters that negotiations with FCA to avert a lawsuit “went on for months and months.”
“We intend to vigorously defend our product against these claims,” Stellantis said in a statement.
Weinstein, 70, is serving a 23-year prison sentence following his February 2020 jury conviction in Manhattan for sexual assault and rape. Weinstein underwent back surgery in December 2019 and used a walker during the trial.
