Judd used Oscar ruse to escape clutches of Weinstein
ASHLEY JUDD, the actress who helped trigger the Harvey Weinstein scandal, said he should go to jail if he committed rape.
Two weeks ago Judd, 49, accused Weinstein of sexual harassment in a report in the New York Times. Around 50 women have since come forward with similar accusations, some alleging sexual assault. Weinstein is under investigation in London and the US.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the scandal broke, a tearful Judd said: “I believe there is hope and help for everyone. It has to be the appropriate help, and there has to be a real and profound understanding on the part of the sexual predator that what they were doing was wrong and criminal.
“If he’s a rapist he absolutely should go to jail, yes. What I would say to Harvey is I love you and I understand you are sick and suffering, and there is help for a guy like you, too. And it’s entirely up to you to get that help.”
Judd described how as a young actress she was lured to Weinstein’s hotel suite in Beverly Hills for what she thought was a business meeting. She said the producer was in his bathrobe
‘What I would say to Harvey is I love you and understand you are sick and there is help for a guy like you, too’
and offered to give her a massage. When she refused he asked her to massage him. The actress described cowering in the hall as Weinstein tried to get her to go into the bathroom.
Judd told Diane Sawyer on ABC News that she escaped by agreeing to submit to him but only “when I win an Oscar in one of your movies”. The evasion tactic allowed her to flee the room, she said. “Am I proud of that? The part that shames myself says ‘No’. The part of me that understands the way shame works says, that was absolutely brilliant – good job, kid, you got out of there. Well done,” she added.
Years later the actress found herself near Weinstein at a dinner. She said he told her: “Remember that little agreement we made? Think I got that script for you...”
But she stood up to him “and he has spat my name ever since”, she said.
Weinstein is in a rehabilitation centre in Arizona and has denied wrongdoing. A spokesman said: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied. Mr Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”