Ashley Judd is suing disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein for allegedly damaging her career after she rejected his sexual advances.
The Hollywood actress, who was one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey of sexual harassment, has filed a defamation and sexual harassment lawsuit against him.
The civil lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles superior court in Santa Monica on Monday.
The suit accuses the producer of causing Ashley to lose a part in The Lord of the Rings back in 1998.
According to Reuters, the lawsuit claims that Harvey “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 Judd’s reputation and limit her ability to find work,” the suit added.
A rep for Harvey has since issued a statement claiming that he “neither defamed Ms Judd nor ever interfered with Ms Judd’s career”.
Harvey, who has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone, has been accused of sexual impropriety by over 70 women since he was first exposed by The New York Times.
The scandal led to the #MeToo social media movement against sexual harassment and assault, and the Time’s Up movement.
Ashley, who is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial, is a leading member of the Time’s Up movement against sexual harassment in the workplace, and has revealed that any financial compensation from the lawsuit would be donated to Time’s Up.
