Jennifer Lawrence has been forced to deny having a sexual relationship with disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein after the claims emerged in court documents.

The Hollywood star, who first came to prominence in The Hunger Games film series, is referred to in a sexual assault lawsuit filed by an anonymous actress in Los Angeles.

The claim, which was filed on Friday, alleges that Weinstein pushed the woman to the ground and forcibly performed oral sex on her after she rejected his advances during a meeting at his office in 2013.

According to the legal documents, Weinstein, 66, asked the claimant, referred to as “Jane Doe”, “Do you even want to be an actress?” before adding “I slept with Jennifer Lawrence and look where she is, she has just won an Oscar.”

In response Lawrence, 28, who won the best actress Oscar for the 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook and is one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses, released a statement denying that she had ever slept with Weinstein and accusing the producer of using “predatory tactics” to target women.

Lawrence said: “My heart breaks for all the women who were victimised by Harvey Weinstein. I have never had anything but a professional relationship with him. This is yet another example of the predatory tactics and lies that he engaged in to lure countless women.”