Ms. Judd is suing Mr. Weinstein for defamation and sexual harassment and for violating California’s broadly written Unfair Competition law, which prohibits “unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business acts and practices.” Unfair competition has not historically been applied to the area of sexual harassment and retaliation.
“Ashley is fighting back, but she also wants to point the way for others,” Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., the lead lawyer representing Ms. Judd in the suit, said in an interview. Mr. Boutrous, who is known for his high-profile work for companies like Walmart and Apple and for pushing the courts on issues like gay marriage, added that “if this isn’t an example of unfair business practice then I don’t know what is.”
Jeannie Suk Gersen, a professor at Harvard Law School who specializes in gender and sexual harassment issues, said Ms. Judd’s complaint is notable because it “speaks to the fact that this is not just a sexual issue — that, beyond physical and emotional harm, it also involves economic harm.”
She added, “If successful, the legal arguments that are being marshaled here are a big deal for lots of people, not just in show business but in all sorts of hiring contexts.”
Ms. Judd said in a statement that “financial recuperation will be donated to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, so that women and men in all professions may have legal redress for sexual harassment, economic retaliation and damage to their careers.”
The lawsuit maintains that Mr. Weinstein was retaliating against Ms. Judd for refusing to engage in sexual activity with him. About a year before Ms. Judd was in contention for the “Lord of the Rings” role, Mr. Weinstein had her meet him in a hotel room in Beverly Hills — under the guise of discussing business — where he appeared in a bathrobe and, among other things, asked her to submit to a massage and watch him shower, the complaint said. Ms. Judd had previously recounted the episode in an interview with The New York Times published last October.
“Weinstein’s wrongful and outrageous conduct has not just deprived Ms. Judd of the specific opportunity to play a prominent role in a blockbuster film trilogy; it has had a long-lasting ripple effect on her whole career,” the complaint said. “No person — in whatever job, in whatever industry — should have to forfeit professional aspirations and the right to earn a living to the abusive whims of the powerful.”
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A spokesman for Mr. Weinstein released a statement late Monday that said in part, “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.”
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Mr. Weinstein has previously denied trying to derail Ms. Judd’s career. In December, when Mr. Jackson told a publication in New Zealand that Mr. Weinstein had told him not to cast Ms. Judd or Mira Sorvino, Mr. Weinstein said in a statement that he had “no input into the casting whatsoever.” (Ms. Sorvino has also accused Mr. Weinstein of harassment.) Although the “Lord of the Rings” movies were started at Miramax, a boutique studio run by Mr. Weinstein and then owned by Disney, the project moved to New Line Cinema before filming began.
Mr. Jackson rejected Mr. Weinstein’s denial in subsequent public comments in December, saying that his creative partner on the films, Fran Walsh, “remembers these negative comments about Ashley and Mira as clearly as I do.”
The lawsuit filed by Ms. Judd on Monday laid out a pattern of retaliatory behavior by Mr. Weinstein against actresses who rebuffed his sexual advances — what California courts have described as “me too” evidence in employment cases. Ms. Sorvino is cited as one example.
“Weinstein made false statements of fact about Ms. Sorvino to others in the film industry to punish her and damage her career,” the suit said. “These comments included, but were not limited to, statements made to Mr. Jackson and Ms. Walsh in a private business meeting that Ms. Sorvino was ‘a nightmare to work with.’” Ms. Sorvino told The New Yorker in October that Mr. Weinstein tried to massage her and “chased her around” a hotel room at a film festival in 1995.
Another example cited by Ms. Judd involved Annabella Sciorra, who has said that Mr. Weinstein raped her in the 1990s. “She believes she did not work from 1992 to 1995 because the ‘Harvey machine’ spread a baseless rumor that she was ‘difficult,’” the complaint said of Ms. Sciorra. Mr. Weinstein has repeatedly denied ever engaging in “nonconsensual sex.”
The case adds to already formidable legal entanglements for Mr. Weinstein, who was one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers before dozens of women — led by Ms. Judd, Rose McGowan, Rosanna Arquette and others — came forward last fall with allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
Prosecutors in New York, Los Angeles and London are now pursuing possible criminal cases against him. Eric T. Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general, is suing Mr. Weinstein and his brother and business partner, Bob Weinstein, for repeatedly violating state and city laws barring gender discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and coercion. Mr. Weinstein also faces additional civil suits, including one filed by Kadian Noble, a British actress who is suing him for sex trafficking.
Amid these investigations, the Weinstein Company has toppled into bankruptcy. Bids for the movie and television studio’s assets were due on Monday, with an auction scheduled for later in the week should competing offers emerge.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, Mr. Schneiderman pressed bidders to propose “enhancements that set aside financial resources to compensate and provide support services for injured employees and industry talent.”
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He added, “Bid enhancements also should include nonmonetary terms that protect future employees and contractors and avoid rewarding wrongdoers.”
(CNN) Actress Ashley Judd has sued Harvey Weinstein, alleging the disgraced former film executive made inflammatory statements about her that hurt her career, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
Judd's suit alleges that Weinstein deterred director Peter Jackson, who oversaw the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and his producing partner Fran Walsh from working with Judd on the films, a move that not only "torpedoed" her opportunity to star in the Academy Award-winning franchise but also cost her additional work.
She claims to have met with Jackson and Walsh in or around 1998 to discuss two different roles in the film, but the pair "dropped their pursuit" of her for the project after Weinstein told them the studio had "a bad experience" working with Judd, according to the lawsuit.
"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," the suit states.
Jackson first revealed Weinstein's comments in an interview back in December 2017, months after Weinstein began facing a host of allegations.
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Hollywood actor says producer damaged her career after she refused his sexual advances
The Hollywood actor Ashley Judd has filed a defamation and sexual harassment lawsuit against the film producer Harvey Weinstein, alleging that he damaged her career after she refused his sexual advances.
The civil lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles superior court in Santa Monica on Monday, accuses Weinstein of causing Judd to lose a part in The Lord of the Rings in 1998 by making “baseless smears” against her.
The lawsuit, reviewed by Reuters, alleges 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”.
It added: “Weinstein used his power in the entertainment industry to damage Ms Judd’s reputation and limit her ability to find work.”
A representative for Weinstein issued a statement hours later saying the former studio boss had “neither defamed Ms Judd nor ever interfered with Ms Judd’s career”.
Instead, the statement said, Weinstein championed Judd’s work and repeatedly approved her casting for two of his movies - Frida in 2002, starring Salma Hayek, and Crossing Over with Harrison Ford in 2009. It also said he had fought for Ms Judd as his first choice for a lead role in Good Will Hunting.
The statement did not address Judd’s allegations that she was sexually harassed by Weinstein.
Judd was one of the first women, in October 2017, to make an on-the-record allegation of sexual misconduct against Weinstein, which soon afterwards evolved into the #MeToo social media movement against sexual harassment and assault. The Oscar-winning producer has since been accused of sexual impropriety by more than 70 women.
He has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone.
Judd, a leading member of the Time’s Up movement against sexual harassment in the workplace, is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial.
Judd’s representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The actor said in a statement to the New York Times that any financial compensation from the lawsuit would be donated to Time’s Up “so that women and men in all professions may have legal redress for sexual harassment, economic retaliation and damage to their careers”.
Footage from a documentary about Weinstein, Citizen Harvey, is set to screen to interested buyers at the Cannes film festival. A feature film about the reporting which brought about the mogul’s downfall is also in production.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ms Judd's lawsuit alleges that Mr Weinstein sought to sabotage her acting career
Actress Ashley Judd is suing Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein claiming he damaged her career in retaliation for her rejecting his sexual advances.
Monday's lawsuit accuses the Oscar-winning producer of defamation, sexual harassment and violation of the California Unfair Competition Law.
Ms Judd was in the first group of women who came forward last year to accuse the filmmaker of sexual misconduct.
Mr Weinstein is facing multiple claims of rape, intimidation and harassment.
"Weinstein used his power in the entertainment industry to damage Ms Judd's reputation and limit her ability to find work," the lawsuit filed at a court in Los Angeles alleges.
It comes after Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said last year that he had been considering Ms Judd for a role in the 1998 film but that she was "blacklisted" following conversations with the Weinstein Company.
He said that Mr Weinstein had warned him that the actress was a "nightmare" to work with.
Mr Weinstein, however, has said that he had no role in Mr Jackson's casting and has denied trying to derail Ms Judd's career.
A spokesperson for Mr Weinstein said in a statement that the producer had "neither defamed Ms Judd nor ever interfered with Ms Judd's career".
Speaking to BBC Hardtalk's Stephen Sackur in January, Ms Judd said she believed that Mr Weinstein had "blackballed" her because she was "not frightened" of him.
"I think that is why he blacklisted me and did unfortunately as we know now such a successful job sabotaging my career," she added.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Judd: I was not frightened of Weinstein
If the lawsuit is successful, the actress has said she would donate any monetary damages to the Time's Up legal defence fund.
The Time's Up campaign is a movement against sexual harassment that was founded at the start of January in response to recent allegations in the media, film and broadcasting.
Its legal fund will offer support to people who have experienced sexual harassment, abuse or assault in the workplace.
The widespread allegations of sexual abuse in Hollywood also sparked the #MeToo campaign, another women-led movement against harassment and assault.
The movements have continued to grow in the face of widespread abuses of power that have rocked industries across the US and around the world.
