Ashley Judd sues disgraced Weinstein over ‘smear’
ACTRESS Ashley Judd, one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, sued the disgraced mogul on Monday, alleging he had defamed her after she rejected him.
The complaint, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court in Santa Monica, accuses Weinstein of ruining her chance to be cast in the Lord of the Rings trilogy by making false statements to director Peter Jackson that he had had a bad experience with Judd, who was a “nightmare”.
“With those baseless smears, Weinstein succeeded in blacklisting Ms Judd and destroying her ability to work on what became a multibillion-dollar franchise with 17 Academy Award wins and many more nominations,” the suit states.
The document goes on to describe the pathetic reality that Weinstein was retaliating after Judd had rejected his sexual advances a year earlier, when he allegedly cornered her in a hotel room under the guise of discussing business.
Judd said any damages she won would go to the Time’s Up legal fund, “so that women and men in all professions may have legal redress for sexual harassment, economic retaliation and damage to their careers”.
Weinstein has previously denied having any input into casting decisions involving Lord of the Rings, which began pre-production work under the Miramax studio but later moved to New Line Cinema.
Oscar-winning Jackson worked with Weinstein and his brother Bob early in the development of The Lord of the Rings in the late 1990s, and has said the pair acted like “second-rate Mafia bullies”.
The New Zealand director said he had no direct knowledge of sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein, but that the producer pressured him not to hire Judd or Mira Sorvino.
“At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us – but in hindsight, I realise this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing,” Sorvino tweeted.
“There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure of.”