Weinstein accuser Ashley Judd says mom Naomi told her to ‘get him’
Ashley Judd, the first person to go on record with the New York Times against convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, appears as herself in the new movie “She Said,” about the paper’s bombshell reporting against the disgraced movie mogul.
“I just want to remember when I was speaking to my mother about this she said, ‘Go get him, honey’ in her sweet way, in dulcet tones… not a punitive bone in her body,” Judd told the crowd of her mom, the late singing legend Naomi Judd, at the New York Film Festival premiere of the film.
“She was just enthralled by my audacity, as I later heard from friends,” said Judd — who alleged she was sexually harassed by Weinstein at a hotel in 1997 while shooting “Kiss the Girls.”
The actress, who received a standing ovation when she took the stage at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, said the Times report and the #MeToo movement, founded by Tarana Burke, has led her to reframe, “experiences I have had to understand that they were in fact harassment when I had previously minimized them.”
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor in the new film directed by Maria Schrader. The movie is based on the duo’s book about their reporting on Weinstein, which was a catalyst for others to come forward.
Kazan said there have been some improvements in the film industry, noting the hiring of “intimacy coordinators” on sets, which “has become an industry standard.”
“My first experience with that, I was very weirded out in anticipation of it, but then it was like, wait, I wouldn’t throw a punch without a stunt coordinator there,” Kazan said. “It makes perfect sense… why has this not been here all along?”
But she said that there is still a lot of work to do.
Others Weinstein accusers were in the crowd, including Lauren O’Connor, who wrote a memo to the Miramax board about Weinstein’s alleged misconduct, and Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, who went to the cops after being assaulted in a hotel room by Weinstein in 2015. (The DA did not prosecute).
A recording of the real-life wire tap Gutierrez wore when confronting Weinstein is included in the film.
Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual abuse. He is also currently facing a second sex crimes trial in Los Angeles for rape and sexual assault.
