Ashley Judd Sues Harvey Weinstein For Defamation, Sexual Harassment

Ashley Judd has filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein for defemation and sexual harassment. Deadline reports that the actress filed suit against Weinstein on Monday over claims that the disgraced Hollywood producer sabotage her career for refusing his sexual advances.

The lawsuit’s claims come after Judd was one of the first women to go public with her experiences with Weinstein, saying he propositioned her while she was filming Kill The Girls. When she turned him down, the suit alleges, Weinstein set out to damage her career. Peter Jackson admitted in an interview with Time magazine in December that Weinstein told him and Fran Walsh not to cast Judd in Lord of the Rings. Jackson said, “I recall Miramax telling us they [Judd and Mira Sorvino] were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs. This was probably in 1998. At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us – but in hindsight, I realize that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing… I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women – and as a direct result their names were removed from our casting list.”

The suit states, “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 pathetic reality, however, was that Weinstein was retaliating against Ms. Judd for rejecting his sexual demands approximately one year earlier, when he cornered her in a hotel room under the guise of discussing business. A self-described ‘benevolent dictator’ who has bragged that ‘I can be scary,’ Weinstein used his power in the entertainment industry to damage Ms. Judd’s reputation and limit her ability to find work.”

Judd has said she will donate any money won in the suit to charity and said, “Mr. Weinstein’s abusive conduct toward others has caused no end of damage to aspiring actors and others in the film and entertainment industry. As my experience and the experience of others shows, even a few false statements from Mr. Weinstein could destroy potentially career-changing professional opportunities. It’s time that Mr. Weinstein be held accountable for that conduct and for the ways in which he’s damaged careers.”

Weinstein’s reps issued a statement which read, “The most basic investigation of the facts will reveal that Mr. Weinstein neither defamed Ms. Judd nor ever interfered with Ms. Judd’s career, and instead not only championed her work but also repeatedly approved her casting for two of his movies over the next decade. The actual facts will show that Mr. Weinstein was widely known for having fought for Ms. Judd as his first choice for the lead role in Good Will Hunting and, in fact, arranged for Ms. Judd to fly to New York to be considered for the role. Thereafter, Ms. Judd was hired for not one, but two of Mr. Weinstein’s movies, Frida in 2002 and Crossing Over with Harrison Ford in 2009. We look forward to a vigorous defense of these claims.”

My legal complaint. I am suing for economic remedy due to damage done to my career as a result of sexual harassment. Financial recuperation goes to @TIMESUPNOW @TIMESUPLDF so that American workers who experince sexual harassment & retaliation have help. https://t.co/Nod3fXgVk3

— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) April 30, 2018