Ashley Judd Is Taking Harvey Weinstein to Court for Sexual Harassment

Ashley Judd is taking the next step in her fight against Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced producer who has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women (and has denied all claims of nonconsensual acts). Judd was one of the first stars to publicly speak out against Weinstein, going on the record in The New York Times initial report to claim that Weinstein sexually harassed her in 1997. Since then, shes been a vocal member of the #MeToo movement and the Times Up Legal Defense Fund.

Now, shes filing a defamation and sexual harassment lawsuit against Weinstein, claiming that he damaged her career because she ignored his alleged sexual advances, according to Reuters.

The civil suit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court in Santa Monica, and claims that Weinstein was responsible for Judd losing out on a role in The Lord of the Rings, a film initially developed by Weinsteins Miramax.

The suit, per Reuters, adds 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.”

“Weinstein used his power in the entertainment industry to damage Ms. Judds reputation and limit her ability to find work,” the lawsuit adds.

A spokesperson for Weinstein responded to Reuters with a statement, saying that the disgraced mogul “neither defamed Ms. Judd nor ever interfered with Ms. Judds career.” Rather, Weinstein “championed” Judds career and “repeatedly approved her casting for two of his movies,” which were Frida in 2002 and Crossing Over in 2009. In addition, he “fought for Ms. Judd as his first choice for a lead role in Good Will Hunting.” As Reuters notes, the statement does not address Judds claims that Weinstein sexually harassed her.

Judd has some high-profile supporters in her corner—particularly Peter Jackson, the director who helmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In an interview last December, Jackson said he recalled Harvey and Bob Weinstein telling him that Judd and Mira Sorvino (another actress who claims Weinstein sexually harassed her then blacklisted her after she denied his advances) were “a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs.”

“In hindsight, I realize that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing,” he said. “I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women—and as a direct result, their names were removed from our casting list.”

Judd later tweeted about her Lord of the Rings experience—saying she met with Jackson and Lord of the Rings co-screenwriter and producer Fran Walsh about a role, then never heard from them again.

Weinstein, through a spokesperson, issued a lengthy statement denying the allegations, saying that he and his brother, Bob, “had no input into the casting whatsoever.”

In a statement to The New York Times, Judd said that any money won from the current lawsuit “will be donated to the Times 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.”

Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Yohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.