Ashley Judd cleared to prosecute Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment

The American actress Ashley Judd can finally sue for sexual harassment the deposed producer Harvey Weinstein, whom she accuses of having ruined his career for having resisted his advances, ruled Wednesday, July 29 a court of appeal in California.

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At first instance, a federal judge in Los Angeles had on the contrary considered in January 2019 that sexual harassment was not applicable in the case of the actress, whom he had however at the time authorized to initiate civil proceedings. The court of appeal seized by the actress considered that the balance of power between Harvey Weinstein and Ashley Judd was in favor of the first and " allowed him to exert pressure on Ms. Judd thanks to his professional position and his influence as a big Hollywood producer ”.

Ashley Judd, 52, was one of the first to break the silence on the actions of Harvey Weinstein, accused of harassment, sexual assault or rape by more than 80 women, including stars like Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow or Léa Seydoux.

The ousted tycoon was sentenced in the spring in New York to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault. In separate proceedings opened in Los Angeles, he is also accused by three women of similar crimes committed in California.

In a complaint filed in April 2018, Ashley Judd claims that Harvey Weinstein wiped out his chances of appearing in Peter Jackson's fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings , one of the most lucrative in movie history, by telling the director and his team that working with the actress was " a nightmare ". Claims that Peter Jackson has publicly confirmed in interviews.

" With these baseless attacks, Mr. Weinstein managed to blacklist Ms. Judd and put an end for her to working on what has become a billion dollar, 17 Oscar-winning film series. " , denounces the complaint. Ashley Judd says she was punished for " rejecting her sexual advances a year earlier (in 1997), when he had stuck her in her hotel room under the pretext of talking about business ."

The judges returned the case to federal court in Los Angeles.