Former child actor Raquel Lee Bolleau sues Disney over alleged 2001 rape

Raquel Lee Bolleau, who began her career in Hollywood as a child actor on shows like The Amanda Show and The Proud Family, is suing Disney, alleging that a former employee raped her in 2001 while she was working on the film The Poof Point.

The actor, now 39, filed the lawsuit on Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It accuses Disney of negligence, and further claims that a "middle-aged, male employee" working on the film groomed, sexually harassed, and raped her during the production, NBC News reports.

She claims in the lawsuit that the male employee was more than twice her age. The employee was not named in the lawsuit and is referred to as John Doe.

The male employee allegedly gave Bolleau alcohol and assaulted her while the cast of the film was in Salt Lake City and again on a flight from Salt Lake City back to California.

According to the lawsuit, the film's director, Neal Israel — who also directed the 1984 Tom Hanks film Bachelor Party and wrote for the sequel to Look Who's Talking, titled Look Who's Talking Too — allegedly told Bolleau to "bond with, get close to, and trust" the male employee.

“Disney authorized sexual harassment on set, permitting sexualized jokes, commentary, fondling, and excessive touching,” the lawsuit claims. “[The employee] regularly made sexually explicit jokes and commentary on the set of a children’s movie and around children. No one from Disney even attempted to curb Mr. Doe’s inappropriate and sexualized commentary.”

The lawsuit continues, claiming that “Mr. Doe’s sexual abuse of Ms. Bolleau was apparent to the adults on Disney’s set," and that "Disney repeatedly failed Ms. Bolleau.”

The Independent has requested comment from Disney.

Bolleau claims in the lawsuit that she was "exhausted, often intoxicated, hungover, or vomiting on set" during the production and that Disney did not provide her medical care. The lawsuit also claims that Disney executives accused Bolleau of "being 'out of control'" on set and "causing the movie to go 'haywire'." She says executives said she needed "Jesus" and of "having a 'demon inside her.'"

“Disney recognized Ms. Bolleau’s sudden shift in demeanor and performance — clear indicia of child sexual abuse — and attacked, blamed and threatened Ms. Bolleau, a victim of rape, and Ms. Bolleau’s mother,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also claims that the abuse Bolleau suffered led to Disney cancelling her role in another production after The Poof Point, and stunted her career due to the "trauma of returning to a set."

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages.

Between 2022 and 2026, Lee appeared in the Disney Channel revival show The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, and she was also featured in the documentary Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, during which she gave her perspective on being a Black child actor on The Amanda Show.