Emotions high as Judd talks Weinstein

‘Tremendously’ moved by response to story

Ashley Judd was tearful but self-assured in her first interview since publicly accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. Wearing a bracelet that read “unstoppable,” she talked to Diane Sawyer, and excerpts from the interview aired during “Good Morning America” Thursday.

“I didn’t expect that I would feel tearful, but it’s been an absolutely, tremendously moving 21/2 or three weeks,” Judd told Sawyer.

Before the story ran, the actress wasn’t sure anyone would believe her or care. Instead, more than 60 women have come forward with similar claims against Weinstein that paint him as a sexual predator who used business meetings as an excuse to lure women to his hotel room, where he would often disrobe and try to cajole them into massages or force them into sexual acts.

Judd broke the dam on the Weinstein allegations. When the New York Times dropped its shocker of an article on Oct. 5 about the industry titan paying off accusers for decades, her account led the story; she was the highest-profile star at that point to come forward. After her claims — not to mention the even more troubling allegations from other women in the New Yorker story the following week — more Alisters, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, emerged with their own accusations against Weinstein.

Judd reminisced about the day that Weinstein allegedly tried to bully her to bend to his will two decades ago. Still fairly new in Hollywood, she went to his hotel, where she believed she would be meeting him on the patio to talk shop. Instead, the concierge informed her the producer was waiting for her in his room.

Once inside the hotel room, Weinstein started pressuring her, she said, first asking to give her a massage, then trying to get her to give him one.

She finally got out of the room by making a deal, according to her account, saying that she would relent when she won an Oscar in one of his movies.

She told her parents about what had happened to her, not to mention Hollywood agents and actors. But, as with other similar alleged incidents, there were no repercussions for Weinstein.

Ashley Judd