‘No woman should have to go through this.’
Mischa Barton can finally close the door on her ex-boyfriend Jon Zacharias. Following months of litigation, she has emerged victorious in her revenge porn lawsuit against him and Zacharias has to keep away from her - forever.
In March, The O.C. actress revealed that she was filing a temporary restraining order against Jon Zacharias who was said to be shopping around naked images of her to porn companies. She also said that the images in question were taken without her consent and that he had filmed them having sex on hidden cameras. Reportedly, Zacharias and those connected to him had approached adult companies with the tapes at a starting bid of USD$500,000.
She won’t have to worry about that anymore however, as she and Zacharias reached a settlement today in Los Angeles Superior Court. He is banned from distributing any of the material, must hand over everything he has to Mischa’s lawyer Lisa Bloom and if anybody connected him deals with it on his behalf, then they could face serious jail time too. The temporary restraining order was also made permanent, meaning Zacharias has to be 100 yards away from Mischa at all times.
Looking thrilled yet understandably exhausted, Lisa published a tweet of her with the actress celebrating the win and wrote, ‘COURT VICTORY today with Mischa Barton’.
Lisa Bloom, who helped shut down Bill O’Reilly and is currently representing clients who were allegedly sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby, had some ferocious words for anyone intending to distribute the material as well.
She said in a statement, ‘Let me be very clear to anyone who chooses to traffic in these images...If you continue, we will find you, come after you and bring you to justice in the fullest extent possible under the civil and criminal laws.’
‘Ms Barton and I stand for a woman’s right to choose what images of her own body will be made public, and you have no right to exploit her or any woman for revenge or financial gain. You have been warned. You proceed at your peril.’
It’s been a long, emotional journey for Mischa, however unfortunately it’s not completely over. There’s still another ex-boyfriend she has to contend with: Adam Shaw, who was also named in the initial restraining order for similar reasons to Jon Zacharias.
In a previous statement, she said Shaw had copied the images and videos while pretending to delete them on Zacharias’ computer and had also tried to ‘take advantage’ of her and forged her signature on cheques. She has also accused him of potentially selling revenge pornography onto various outlets.
Mischa spoke about the difficult experience in March, saying, ‘I just want to say that I have been put through an incredibly hard and trying time. This is a painful situation and my absolute worst fear was realised when I heard that someone I thought I loved and trusted was filming my most intimate and private moments without my consent...I came forward not only to fight this not only for myself, but for all the women out there.’
‘I want to protect them from the pain and humiliation that I have had to go through. No woman should have to go through this.’
Revenge porn is an illegal offence in the US, where the British-born actress filed her lawsuit. It was also officially declared an illegal offence in the UK in late 2014 and just last year, the Crown Prosecution Service revealed that over 200 people have been convicted under the new law.
