Woman suing Friars Club over sexual harassment claims blasts Gloria Allred
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After O.J. Simpson was granted parole in Nevada, "I immediately felt that the law in Nevada should be changed," attorney Gloria Allred said last week. Allred is pictured in Los Angeles, Aug. 22, 2013. (Getty Images)
A woman who is suing the Friars Club over sexual harassment claims says that Gloria Allred has “dropped her weapons for justice and retreated” by agreeing to be the subject of one of the club’s legendary roasts.
Sources tell Page Six that Rehanna Almestica asked the famed women’s-rights lawyer — who is to be roasted on June 21 — to represent her in her suit back in 2016, but Allred’s office declined, saying that it would be a conflict of interest for Allred, who is a member of the famed club.
Former club receptionist Almestica claims in her lawsuit that Friars Club “scribe,” or secretary, Bruce Charet regularly made sexually explicit phone calls to her and that the Friars Club fired her after she complained. When she learned about the roast, she wrote Allred an e-mail saying, “When I heard that you accepted the Friars ‘highest honor’ to be roasted, I was reminded of your unwillingness to help me, which now feels like a body blow to my gut and an act of betrayal.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She added, “By agreeing to be roasted by the Friars Club . . . you have dropped your weapons for justice and retreated,” and, “You are revered as a champion for women yet, in this instance, you seem to have overlooked misdeeds and instead defend the ranks of your beloved club who were exposed as predators, abusing their power and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Suddenly, the loudest pro-woman voice has fallen silent.”
Almestica also asked Allred to reconsider her decision to be roasted.
The club has been promoting the event with the tagline: “Gloria Allred has been protecting women’s rights for more than 40 years. At her Friars Club Roast, who will protect hers?”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Allred told us that her firm does not comment on who has contacted the office for legal advice or representation or its decisions to accept or decline a case, and that “all e-mails or letters to our office and our response to them is confidential.”
Reps for the Friars Club didn’t get back to us.