American actress Ashley Judd may sue former producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment, whom he accuses of ruining his career for having resisted his sexual advances, after the ruling on Wednesday of a California appeals court.
A federal judge in Los Angeles had ruled in the first instance, in January 2019, that sexual harassment was not applicable in the case of the actress, since the respective law did not apply at that time to relations between actors and producers. However, he authorized her to file a civil lawsuit.
Judd, 52, was one of the first to break the silence on Weinstein’s acts, accused of harassment, sexual assault, or rape by more than 80 women, including stars such as Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Léa Seydoux.
In February, in New York, the magnate ended his disgrace and was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.
In a separate trial opened in Los Angeles, the convicted man is charged with three women for similar crimes, but committed in California.
In his complaint filed in April 2018, Judd says that Weinstein removed his chances of appearing in the trilogy of The Lord of the rings, one of the most lucrative in film history, for telling its director, Peter Jackson, that working with her was “a nightmare”, something that Jackson himself confirmed publicly.
So, Weinstein “blacklisted Ms. Judd, ending his opportunity to work on what became a series of films that won billions of dollars and 17 Oscars, “he concluded.
Judd claims to have been punished by Weinstein for “having rejected her sexual advances a year earlier (in 1997), when he summoned her in a hotel room on the pretext of discussing business.”
The Court of Appeals forwarded the case to the Los Angeles federal court after finding that the balance of power between Weinstein and Judd was on the magnate’s side, which “allowed him to put pressure” on the actress “due to his influence as a major Hollywood producer “
Judd claims compensation for damages who pledged to donate to organizations that advocate for victims of sexual harassment at work.
For his part, Weinstein has always denied having harassed or had sexual relations without consent.
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