Ashley Judd Is Suing Harvey Weinstein For Damaging Her Career
Ashley Judd isn’t done with Harvey Weinstein. She’s approaching this with a real “FINISH HIM” attitude, and I think as fans of watching Harvey Weinstein burn, that’s something we can all get behind. Ashley helped expose him, dragged him on TV, and now she’s getting legal revenge.
When Ashley first came forward with her story back in October, she claimed that Harvey invited her to his hotel room while she was filming Kiss The Girls in 1997, which of course turned into a massage request. Ashley says she got out of any yuckiness by telling Harvey he could put his paws on her when she wins an Oscar for appearing in a Miramax movie. Ashley went on to appear in two more Miramax movies, but the movie roles soon became more sparse, and she’s blaming Harvey for that.
Ashley spoke with Amy Robach of ABC News to announce that she’s filed a lawsuit against Weinstein. She accuses him of intentionally derailing her career and killing her chances at making money because she turned down his advances in 1997. Specifically, Ashley accuses Harvey of making sure she didn’t get cast in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. Peter had originally pitched LOTR to Harvey and his brother Bob Weinstein for Miramax.
Peter admitted back in December that both Ashley and Mira Sorvino’s names came up as possible casting options in 1998, to which Harvey allegedly steered Peter away, saying they’re both a “nightmare” to work with (Harvey denied ever doing such a thing). Mira also accused Harvey of acting inappropriately with her, and believes she got blacklisted from Hollywood for turning him down. After all the news about Harvey started coming out, Peter said he can look back and see that it was a “smear campaign.”
The first LOTR came out in 2001. Before LOTR, Ashley was in films like A Time to Kill and Kiss the Girls and the greatest rich person yacht murder revenge film of all time, Double Jeopardy. Post-LOTR, Ashley was doing movies that I could not even guess the plot of, like High Crimes, Twisted, and Dolphin Tale (well, that last one is probably about a dolphin). So one could argue that her movies got a little less shiny in the 2000s.
Ashley’s lawyer believes they have a strong case, and she says that any money she receives in damages will be donated to the Time’s Up movement.
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
Harvey’s side hasn’t said anything about Ashley’s lawsuit yet, but I’m sure we’ll all be shocked if he recycles one of his old defenses and calls her a liar. Or maybe he’s just too busy counting up all his lawsuits.
Amy asked Ashley if she was sure she was a lock for one of those LOTR roles. Ashley says it wasn’t guaranteed, but that she was in talks to see which of two roles she preferred. But she doesn’t say which roles she was up for. The obvious guess is either Arwen or Galadriel (which went to Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett, respectively). But who knows, maybe she was up for Gollum? And now I can’t stop thinking of an alternate universe where Andy Serkis is just some British actor, and Ashley Judd is the undisputed queen of motion capture performance.
Pic: Wenn.com