Legal In a legal career that has spanned five decades, Allred has represented a wide variety of clients in
civil rights suits that have involved
sexual harassment,
women's rights,
wrongful termination, and
employment discrimination.
The New Republic has called her "a longtime master of the press conference". She often takes high-profile cases, using press conferences and appearances on television to much effect. Allred has represented many clients in suits against celebrities, including those against
Mötley Crüe drummer
Tommy Lee,
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Herman Cain,
David Boreanaz,
Scott Lee Cohen,
Anthony Weiner,
Sacha Baron Cohen,
Esai Morales,
Roman Polanski,
Josh Giddey, and
R. Kelly.
1970s and 1980s in 1986 ("Jane Roe" in
Roe v. Wade), 1989 Allred founded the firm Allred, Maroko, & Goldberg with fellow Loyola graduates Michael Maroko and Nathan Goldberg in January 1976. In 1979, Allred represented seven children and their parents in a lawsuit against the Sav-On Drugstore chain to stop the store from designating separate sections for boys' and girls' toys. In 1981, while California State Senator
John G. Schmitz was presiding over hearings on outlawing abortion, Allred presented him with a
chastity belt. Schmitz retaliated in a press release, calling her a "slick butch lawyeress". She sued him for
libel, and eventually secured a settlement of $20,000 and an apology. In 1985, Allred, along with
Catharine MacKinnon, drafted a version of the
Antipornography Civil Rights Ordinance for Los Angeles County. The legislation failed to pass the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. In 1987, Allred took on the then all-male
Friars Club of Beverly Hills, an exclusive private club, over its
membership discrimination policies. The Friars Club eventually allowed Allred and five other women to use the club's health facilities, after Allred displayed early skills in effective use of the media.
1990s Allred wrote a letter to the
Senate Ethics Committee in 1992 asking them to investigate the actions of Oregon Senator
Bob Packwood, who had been the subject of a newspaper article that detailed his history of sexual harassment. She kept pressure on the Committee and urged Packwood to release his diaries. The Committee eventually voted for his expulsion, and he resigned. In 1983, Allred represented lesbian activists Deborah Johnson and Zandra Rolón in their lawsuit against the owner of a
Los Angeles restaurant, Papa Choux, after he denied them service in a booth reserved for "romantic couples". While the lower court denied the two an injunction based on unlawful discrimination, the appellate court reversed the decision in
Rolon v. Kulwitzky (1984), finding that the restaurant's behavior was discrimination prohibited under the Los Angeles Municipal Code. Rather than serve
LGBT couples, the restaurant decided to eliminate the booths altogether, and took out newspaper ads inviting the public to a "Wake for Romance" event. In 1995, Allred represented 11-year-old Katrina Yeaw in
Yeaw v. Boy Scouts of America, a suit against the
Boy Scouts of America to determine whether the organization had the right to exclude girls from membership. That same year, she represented
Nicole Brown Simpson's family during the
O. J. Simpson murder trial. In August 1997, she represented model Kelly Fisher when she sued
Dodi Fayed for allegedly breaking off their engagement to begin his highly publicized relationship with
Diana, Princess of Wales. The suit was dropped not long after Diana and Fayed died in Paris that August. Allred represented
Melrose Place actress
Hunter Tylo in 1997 when producer
Aaron Spelling fired her because she was pregnant. A jury awarded Tylo $4.8 million. The case was important in establishing the rights of actors to continue work if they become pregnant.
2000s After pop singer
Michael Jackson held his son over a hotel balcony in Berlin in 2002, Allred wrote a letter to California's Child Protective Services, asking for an investigation into the safety of Jackson's children, and spoke on
CNN about the subject. She also briefly represented Jordan Chandler in 1993 whose father had accused Jackson of sexual abuse. Allred also represented 18-year-old Daniel Kapon, who claimed that Jackson had molested him when he was a child. The Kapon case was dismissed because Kapon's father confirmed that Kapon had never met Jackson. Jackson, who an advisor said could be a bit paranoid, reportedly kept an "enemy list" on which Allred appeared, along with Rabbi
Shmuley Boteach, illusionist
Uri Geller, music executive
Tommy Mottola, DA
Tom Sneddon, and
Janet Arvizo, mother of a Jackson accuser. The source of this allegation was Dieter Wiesner whom Jackson fired and who at that time was suing him for $64 million. Later in 2002, Allred represented the family of
Gwen Araujo, a
transgender teen who was brutally beaten to death when it was learned that she had been assigned male at birth. In 2004, Allred represented
Amber Frey when Frey was a witness in the criminal case against Scott Peterson for the
murder of his wife Laci Peterson. On February 24, 2004, Allred and her law firm, Allred, Maroko, and Goldberg, filed the first lawsuit in California challenging the denial of marriage licenses for same-sex couples as being
unconstitutional. She took the case
pro bono for Robin Tyler and Diane Olson and Rev.
Troy Perry and his spouse Phillip Ray De Blieck. The case went to the California Supreme Court, where on May 15, 2008, she won a decision affirming the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. She represented three former
Circuit City employees on behalf of a large plaintiff class in an
age discrimination lawsuit against that company after it fired 3,400 workers nationwide in April 2007. In a March 2008 complaint against the
TSA, Allred represented a client who was given pliers and told to remove her
nipple rings at a Lubbock, Texas, airport. In April 2008, it was reported that she had been hired by the family of the teenager who had been beaten and filmed by eight Florida teenagers. She also appeared on
Today with Jessica Gibson, who was counter-suing
Rob Lowe for sexual harassment. On July 30, 2008, Allred filed a complaint with federal regulators against Downey Savings and Loan Association regarding check-cashing procedures. Marc Retmier, a 19-year-old US Navy Hospitalman, was killed in action in Afghanistan in June 2008. Downey Savings refused to immediately cash his family's military bereavement checks, and family members were compelled to seek funding elsewhere to pay for his funeral services. In May 2009, Allred filed a suit arguing that
Nadya Suleman was exploiting her octuplets. Allred asked for a court-appointed guardian, claiming that Suleman was not properly taking their interests into consideration. In December of the same year Allred was retained by
Rachel Uchitel after media sources alleged that Uchitel had been having an affair with married golfer
Tiger Woods. Five years later Uchitel won a $6 million
legal malpractice settlement from Allred's firm in
arbitration. Allred also represented Joslyn James, a
pornographic actress and Woods's alleged mistress.
2010s On May 14, 2010, in a news conference held at Allred's office, English actress
Charlotte Lewis alleged that director
Roman Polanski had sexually abused her in his Paris apartment when she was 16. In June 2010, she was hired by Debrahlee Lorenzana, a former bank employee who had drawn wide public attention after alleging that she had been fired for being too attractive. Allred was visible in the 2010 California gubernatorial race, going public as the lawyer for Nicky Diaz, a former domestic worker for Republican nominee
Meg Whitman. Allred contended that Whitman employed Diaz for years while knowing that Diaz was an undocumented immigrant. On April 27, 2011, Allred appeared at a press conference with the family of Justin Quinn, who was allegedly threatened at a
San Francisco Giants baseball game by
Braves coach
Roger McDowell. Quinn had objected to McDowell's uttering of
homophobic slurs and use of a baseball bat to simulate a sex act in the presence of his daughters. On October 18, 2011, Allred won court approval to represent nine former cocktail waitresses who were fired from their jobs at
Resorts Casino Hotel in
Atlantic City, New Jersey after they "did not look good enough" in new uniforms modeled after 1920s-era
Flapper outfits. Resorts had sought to bar Allred from the discrimination lawsuit, arguing in court papers that her "flamboyant and headline-grabbing antics" would add nothing to the case. On March 9, 2012, Allred called for an investigation into whether radio host
Rush Limbaugh should be prosecuted in Florida under a 19th-century law against "maliciously imputing to [any woman] a want of chastity" for
derogatory remarks he made regarding
Sandra Fluke, who testified before House Democrats to advocate for free birth control. Allred commented: "Mr. Limbaugh targeted his attack on a young law student who was simply exercising her free speech and her right to testify before congress on a very important issue to millions of American women and he vilified her. ... He needs to face the consequences of his conduct in every way that is meaningful." Allred did not represent Fluke or have contact with her at the time of her remarks nor did the prosecutor's office respond to request for comment. Also in 2012, Allred took on the case of
Jenna Talackova, a Canadian
transgender woman who was challenging her disqualification from the
Miss Universe Canada pageant for not being a "naturally born" female. The Miss Universe organization ultimately reversed its decision before the case proceeded to the courts. On October 4, 2013, Allred was hired by the wife of critically injured motorcyclist Edwin Mieses, who was run over by Alexian Lien during the
Hollywood Stuntz gang assault. Lien ran over Mieses with his SUV while Lien was being surrounded and threatened by Mieses and his motorcycle gang on Manhattan's West Side Highway. Fellow bikers later caught up with Lien and assaulted him. Allred told the press that Mieses, who suffered spinal injuries and two broken legs, was an "innocent victim" who was trying to "defuse the situation". , Allred was representing at least 28 women who
accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and/or other sexual misconduct. She also represented three women who accused
Donald Trump of sexual misconduct—
claims which Trump has denied, and which first arose during Trump's
2016 presidential campaign. In 2017, former Allred client Kyle Hunter filed official complaints with both the
State Bar of California and the
District of Columbia Bar, alleging conflict of interest because Allred was in negotiations with
CBS at the same time she was representing him in a lawsuit against CBS for employment discrimination. Allred issued a statement denying any wrongdoing and claiming the investigation was sparked by a failed extortion attempt. On November 11, 2017, Allred held a press conference representing her client, Beverly Young Nelson, as Nelson made a statement alleging sexual assault by
Roy Moore when she was 16. In 2019,
New York Times reporters
Jodi Kantor and
Megan Twohey discussed the ways in which Allred and her firm profited from non-disclosure agreements that they negotiated, which silenced victims of sexual misconduct through "secret settlements" and "bur[ied] allegations of sexual harassment and assault". Allred's practice negotiated non-disclosures for a victim of
Harvey Weinstein, and victims of
Fox News host
Bill O'Reilly and Olympics gymnastics physician
Larry Nassar. Allred was vocal in her dislike of a proposed 2017 California bill that would ban non-disclosure clauses in agreements that silence victims of sexual harassment or assault.
2020s In February 2020, Allred hired an American-style school bus to encourage
Prince Andrew to respond to the
FBI about the
sexual misconduct allegations surrounding him. The school bus was covered with an advertisement and placed outside of
Buckingham Palace, and included photographs of the Duke of York and a message urging him to answer questions surrounding the controversy. In 2021, Allred represented several victims who accused R&B singer
R. Kelly of sexually abusing them. After Kelly was convicted of sexual crimes in September 2021, Allred stated that Kelly was the worst sexual predator she had pursued in her 47-year law career. In 2021, Allred represented Hannah Archuleta. In 2019,
Dr. Phil allegedly pressured Archuleta's father to send her to the Turn-About Ranch in Utah, and at the ranch, Archuleta was allegedly groped and sexually assaulted repeatedly by a male staff member. A judge dismissed the lawsuit, and the show countersued for legal costs. In 2022, it was revealed that Allred refused to represent Efrosina "Effie" Angelova, who had accused actor
Armie Hammer of raping her and sending her disturbing text messages in January 2021, after she "wouldn't sign a declaration under perjury [regarding] her accusations.". Angelova, said in 2025 that Allred discussed her case publicly with the makers of
a documentary film on Hammer even after she had denied Allred permission to do so; Allred, Angelova says, threatened to withdraw as her attorney unless she claimed retroactively to have given her permission. In 2025, Allred represented photographer Guadelupe De Los Santos in a lawsuit against rapper
50 Cent, alleging assault and related claims stemming from an incident in Los Angeles.
Entertainment Allred co-hosted a radio talk show with Mark Taylor on
KABC in Los Angeles for 14 years. She also served as a panelist on the 1990 revival of television game show
To Tell the Truth. On March 28, 2000, Allred was parodied on the animated TV show
Family Guy, by a character named "Gloria Ironbox", voiced by
Candice Bergen, in an episode titled "
I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar". Allred appears as herself in the 2001 film
Rat Race. On May 21, 2001, she was parodied on
The Simpsons episode "
Behind the Laughter", portraying a lawyer at the family table for Lisa Simpson. On June 27, 2001, she was parodied on
South Park's episode "
Cripple Fight". On September 12, 2011, Allred debuted into the
courtroom television genre with
We the People with Gloria Allred, a show using improv actors to reenact fictitious case scenarios. In April 2013, Allred appeared on the reality show ''
RuPaul's Drag Race'' (episode "
The Final Three, Hunty"), interviewing and advising the final three contestants on selling themselves as "America's Next Drag Superstar". On November 27, 2016, Allred appeared as herself on the Epix TV show
Graves. ==Political life==