An actor. A dog mom. A daughter. A friend. A writer. A fiancée. Charlotte Kirk wants to be defined by her accomplishments, her work, and who she is. Instead, over almost a decade, she’s been defined by the powerful men in the film industry who have abused her, silenced her, and thus thrust her into the public eye.

Charlotte was born to a working class family in Kent, a small suburb of London. From a young age, she knew she was different. Being on the Autism spectrum, Charlotte had a creative outlook on life, which gave her an early passion for acting. She would showcase her talents anywhere she could, even practicing them on the bus as a kid. In her teenage years, she became determined to pursue her dreams of acting professionally and decided to move to Hollywood.

Charlotte moved to the U.S. alone as a teenage girl with aspergers. She had few connections in this country and was looking for mentors. Like too many young women in the film industry, as soon as she began pursuing her career and finding acting jobs, she became a victim of Hollywood’s predatory casting couch culture, in which young actresses are pressured into trading sexual favors for roles. She was taken advantage of by some of the most powerful Hollywood moguls and executives, including Ron Meyer (former Universal Studio executive), James Packer (RatPac-Dune Entertainment producer), and Kevin Tsujihara (former-CEO of Warner Brothers). 

In 2013, Bret Ratner (RatPac-Dune Entertainment director) and Jamer Packer facilitated Charlotte’s sexual assault by then-CEO of Warner Bros, Kevin Tsujihara, using her as a “signing gift” in the AT&T and Time Warner merger, an $85 billion deal. It should be noted that  Ratner has been accused by 6 different women of sexual misconduct. After the assault and under pressure from lawyers, Charlotte signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which she was not allowed to see a copy of. The hypothetical goal of NDA’s is to protect survivors' privacy, however they have been more commonly used to silence them in the court of law. Among other things, Charlotte’s agreement contained clauses stating that she could not share her story with anyone, even in the court of law. Shortly after signing this agreement, Charlotte’s name was slandered publicly by her perpetrators. She was portrayed as an extortionist, who tricked her abusers into giving her money and roles. This characterization grossly misrepresents the power dynamics at play--Charlotte was a teenage girl up against Hollywood moguls.Because of her NDA, Charlotte has been unable to share her side of this story with the media in order to give the full truth of what happened to her. 

#MeToo laws passed by the state of California in 2018 ban non-disclosure clauses in settlement agreements involving sexual assault and harrassment. Charlotte is currently testing how this new law will hold up in court so she can finally speak up, but to date she is still silenced by a court order. She has faced relentless attacks from her abusers’ legal teams, which include lawyer Marty Singer, who has in the past defended known rapists including Bill Cosby. 

Charlotte’s story is not only tragic because of its details, but because of how common it is for young women in the entertainment industry. In a vicious cycle that protects perpetrators of sexual abuse, she is standing up against powerful men who are attempting to silence her using the courts, and have been doing so with other victims for too long. For herself and other victims like her, she is fighting systems of power that have been denying survivors justice for too long. 

Use the hashtag #LetCharlotteSpeak to follow the latest updates.