On November 20th, A.M. Lukas (they/she), an award-winning writer and filmmaker, filed their lawsuit against Portuguese actor and DJ, Nuno Lopes. Lukas filed their Complaint (linked here) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging that Mr. Lopes raped Lukas in April 2006. Lukas seeks justice pursuant to the New York Adult Survivors Act.
As detailed in the Complaint, on April 28, 2006, Lukas attended a premiere party at the Tribeca Film Festival, where they were introduced to Mr. Lopes. Soon after they met Mr. Lopes, Lukas’s body began to feel unusually heavy. Then, Lukas started to lose their memory. As alleged, Lukas’s few horrific, fragmented memories from that night and the ensuing early morning hours include, but are not limited to, Mr. Lopes holding up Lukas’s limp legs, raping her from the front as she drifted in and out of consciousness; Mr. Lopes raping Lukas from behind as Lukas wondered where she was and who she was with; and Mr. Lopes masturbating over Lukas’s naked, motionless body. Lukas did not and could not have consented to having sex with Mr. Lopes.
Mr. Lopes’s rape of Lukas has caused severe psychological and emotional trauma that Lukas must manage to this day. By filing their Complaint, Lukas seeks to hold Mr. Lopes accountable for what he has done and to draw attention to the urgent deadline for other sexual assault survivors, who, like Lukas, can finally hold their perpetrators accountable. The deadline to file a case under the New York Adult Survivors Act is November 23, 2023 (link to ASA page).
Any questions can be directed to Lukas’s attorney Michael Willemin (mwillemin@wigdorlaw.com) or Wigdor LLP Communications Manager Courtney Cormican (ccormican@wigdorlaw.com).
Thank you.
Statement from attorney Michael Willemin, Partner at Wigdor LLP:
We are inspired by our client’s bravery in coming forward to hold Mr. Lopes accountable. As we have seen time and time again, the film industry has repeatedly given license to men like Mr. Lopes to engage in sexual assault without consequence. Thanks to the New York Adult Survivors Act, we can fight for the long-awaited justice and relief that Lukas deserves.
Statement from A.M. Lukas:
Mr. Lopes was given the opportunity to take responsibility for his actions: to acknowledge what he did; to account for it, and to apologize. He immediately declined to do so and communicated in no uncertain terms that he would never acknowledge any wrongdoing whatsoever. We cannot accept a world in which perpetrators of heinous, inhumane behavior are able to live their lives out in the open, with impunity and no social consequences, while their victims suffer in silence. I am not looking forward to the ways in which I am certain that Mr. Lopes’s lawyers will attempt to humiliate and invalidate me. But I won’t be deterred from securing justice.