American actress Ashley Judd was authorized to prosecute producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment, a California appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
Ashley Judd accuses the man of ruining his career for resisting his advances. She says she was punished for "having rejected her sexual advances a year earlier (in 1997), when he had stuck her in her hotel room under the pretext of talking about business."
Punished for having "rejected his advances"
In an April 2018 complaint, Ashley Judd claims Mr. Weinstein destroyed his chances of appearing in Peter Jackson's fantasy trilogy 'The Lord of the Rings', telling the director and his crew 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.
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, which he had however at the time authorized to initiate civil proceedings.
Harvey Weinstein accused by more than 80 women
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 former and "allowed him to exert pressure on Ms. Judd thanks to his professional position and his influence as a big Hollywood producer ”. The judges returned the case to federal court in Los Angeles.
Ashley Judd, 52, was one of the first to break the silence in this case accusing Harvey Weinstein of harassment, sexual assault or rape by more than 80 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Léa Seydoux.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers. Learn more
The fallen producer was sentenced this spring to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault in New York. He is also accused by three women of similar crimes in California.
"Details of the investigation will show that Mr. Weinstein has neither defamed Ms. Judd nor harmed her career, and certainly never sought revenge on her," says Phyllis Kupferstein, Harvey's lawyer. Weinstein in a statement, arguing that his client had "no authority" over the "Lord of the Rings" project. Harvey Weinstein has denied any harassment or unwanted sex.
In her complaint, Ashley Judd seeks damages in an unspecified amount and pledged to donate them to organizations defending victims of sexual harassment at work.
