Former child actor Raquel Lee has come forward with allegations of sexual assault against a former employee at Disney, who she claims facilitated and concealed the assault, according to a new lawsuit.
In a legal complaint obtained by USA TODAY, "The Amanda Show" alum's attorneys allege that a staffer pressured Lee to consume alcohol and repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted her when she was 14 on the set of the 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie "The Poof Point."
The suit does not name the perpetrator but describes him as an "adult, middle-aged, male employee of Disney who was involved in the filming of the movie."
Lee, now 39, said that the cast and crew all stayed at the same hotel during the production in Utah. She alleged that the staffer
invited her and her guardian to his hotel room under the guise of practicing her lines. Once there she was pressured to consume alcohol, the lawsuit alleges.
She returned to her room while "intoxicated and not well" and later was invited to visit his room alone, where he raped her, the lawsuit alleges. The employee accused of the assault was "at least double her age," according to the complaint.
Disney declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In a statement to USA TODAY on Aug. 22, Lee's representatives said "Over the last decade, countless child actors have come forward to bravely share their experiences of abuse by adults in entertainment. As former government prosecutors, our message to the entertainment industry is simple: This conduct is inexcusable, and those involved — directly or indirectly — must be held accountable."
Lawsuit says not a single adult tried to help Raquel Lee
The complaint also accused the company of repeatedly failing to protect Lee as "not a single adult acknowledged the abuse or tried to help her" and stated that "Disney’s set was not safe for children."
Disney allegedly separated Lee from her guardian for the majority of each day on set, and allowed adults to interact with minors without the presence of their guardians, according to the complaint.
"In violating child labor laws, Disney gave Mr. Doe, a child predator, unrestricted and dangerous access to a minor," the complaint reads. "No one from Disney stopped this extremely inappropriate touching and molestation of a child."
Following her appearance on "The Poof Point," Lee did recurring voiceover work on the Disney Channel animated sitcom "The Proud Family" in the early 2000s. She recently returned to do voice over for its Disney+ revival, "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, " and attended the show's red carpet event in Los Angeles in January 2023.
"[Lee] was thrilled to join Disney in its first movie featuring a Black-American family. Working for Disney forever changed [her] life — but not in the ways she had hoped," the complaint reads. "Overnight, [Lee] transformed from an energetic, bright, and diligent child actress who overprepared and studied her lines — to an exhausted intoxicated, unwell child who could not focus, could not memorize her lines, smelled of alcohol, and was routinely sick or vomiting on set."
Raquel Lee recounted feeling 'disposable' on 'The Amanda Show'
As part of a 2022 report from Business Insider, Lee detailed what she described as an inhumane work environment on the set of Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show." She told reporter Kate Taylor that she was made to feel "disposable" and dehumanized.
"It's not about being a human. It's not about being a child. They don't care about that," Lee said. "They care that I have this show that's worth a lot of money, and my job and life depends on this show being successful."
Lee was let go from the show at age 13, Insider reported.
She also participated in the 2024 docuseries "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV," where she reflected on her treatment as a Black performer on the show, which ran from 1999 to 2002.
After the documentary aired, she said that actor Drake Bell’s discussion of his own on-set sexual abuse in the five-episode project was "retraumatizing" for her.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Raquel Lee alleges sexual assault on Disney Channel set in lawsuit
