LOS ANGELES – A lawsuit accusing American actor Warren Beatty of coercive sex with a teenager five decades ago was dismissed on Dec 15.

The suit, lodged in Los Angeles in 2022, was one of a number of historic abuse claims filed under a California law allowing complaints that would otherwise have passed the statute of limitations.

Ms Kristina Charlotte Hirsch alleged in the suit that she met the Bonnie And Clyde (1967) actor on a movie set in 1973 when she was 14 or 15 years old.

She claimed he later invited her to the hotel in which he was living and took her for car rides.

Beatty – who would have been aged around 35 at the time – “used his position and status as an adult and a Hollywood movie star to coerce sexual contact with Plaintiff on multiple occasions, including oral sex, simulated sex and finally coerced sexual intercourse with the minor child”, the suit said.

Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Edward Moreton Jr dismissed the case “with prejudice” at a hearing on Dec 15, meaning it cannot be refiled.

The judge noted that Ms Hirsch had not filed case management papers and was representing herself after her former attorney withdrew in 2023.

Beatty, now 86, has long had a reputation as a Lothario whose romantic entanglements have at times overshadowed his acting career.

He has in the past been linked to names including actresses Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, Diane Keaton and Britt Ekland.

Beatty, who became nearly as known for his relationships with famous women off-screen as for his performances, has been married to actress Annette Bening, 65, since 1992. They have four children. AFP