Sophia Cohen, daughter of Mets owner Steve Cohen, is no stranger to her father’s colorful reputation in the US. However, it appears that her future father-in-law, Charles Waterstreet, is quite a character in Australia.
As previously reported by Page Six, Sophia is engaged to Harrison Waterstreet, a CAA agent.
Charles Waterstreet, Harrison’s father, is a prominent lawyer in Australia, and like Steve Cohen, he has inspired a TV drama series based on his life.
In 2017, Charles faced allegations, which he strongly denies, of making claims about threesomes and women snorting cocaine off his body.
Charles is known as a “barrister” in Australia and is believed to be the inspiration behind the central character in the long-running Australian drama series “Rake.” (Steve Cohen was the inspiration for the hedge fund antihero Bobby Axelrod in Showtime’s “Billions”).
However, even this association has sparked controversy. After Charles was accused of sexual harassment, Richard Roxburgh, the actor who plays the lead role in “Rake,” clarified that there is no real counterpart to the character in real life.
Roxburgh explained that Charles received a credit on the show because he shared one interesting story that was adapted for an episode in the first season, leading to the decision to credit him as a co-creator.
Regarding the sexual harassment allegations, a 21-year-old woman, Tina Huang, wrote an article in 2017 claiming that she had briefly worked as a paralegal and personal assistant to Charles Waterstreet. She alleged that during her job interview, Charles asked her to watch a pornographic video and mentioned enjoying having women snort cocaine off him.
She also claimed that after accepting the job, Charles asked her to send emails regarding overdue payments for sex toys. In response, Charles wrote a lengthy rebuttal in the Sydney Morning Herald, stating that the reference to women snorting cocaine off his body was a joke, and he had been sober for 21 years regarding alcohol and illicit drugs. He also clarified that the explicit video mentioned was evidence in a court case.
Attorneys for Charles emphasized that the allegations made by Tina Huang were either factually false, baseless, or taken out of context.
On the other hand, Harrison Waterstreet, the groom-to-be, has had a more conventional career. He has been working as an agent in the movie division of talent agency CAA since 2019.