Tammy

In the mid-1990s, while shooting Kiss the Girls for Miramax, Ashley Judd was invited by producer Harvey Weinstein to what she thought would be a business breakfast at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. She was sent up to his suite instead. He appeared in a bathrobe and began pressing her: a massage, watching him shower, more. She said no, again and again. To get out of the room she made a quick, half-joking bargain—she would only consider anything if she first won an Oscar in one of his movies—then left. Her father was waiting downstairs in the lobby. She later described feeling trapped and panicky, fully aware of how much power Weinstein held in the industry. She told her mother, Naomi Judd, what had happened. Years afterward she alluded to the encounter in a 2015 Variety piece without naming him. In October 2017 she became one of the first actresses to go on the record by name in the New York Times investigation that helped launch the ‘MeToo’ reckoning. Weinstein denied the account, saying he “never laid a glove on her.” Judd has said the refusal carried a professional price. After she turned him down, she alleges he began telling people she was a “nightmare” to work with. Director Peter Jackson later confirmed that he had removed her (and Mira Sorvino) from consideration for The Lord of the Rings trilogy because of negative information supplied by Miramax. Jackson has since said he believes it was part of a smear campaign. Judd has stated that she lost roles, money, and standing as a direct result. In 2018 she sued Weinstein for sexual harassment, defamation, and related claims, arguing the retaliation had damaged her career trajectory for years. Parts of the suit were dismissed; others were allowed to proceed after appeals. Weinstein has continued to deny wrongdoing. Judd has remained a public voice on the issue, speaking about both the personal encounter and the longer professional cost of saying no 🎥 💔