'Go, get him’: Harvey Weinstein accuser Ashley Judd says mom Naomi Judd was ‘enthralled by her audacity’
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Actress Ashley Judd received a standing ovation when she took the stage at Lincoln Center in Manhattan to speak about her role in the film ‘She Said’. One of the MeToo accusers, Judd, 54, is playing herself in the movie, starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan in lead roles. The 'De-Lovely' actress shared the Times Report and the #MeToo movement, founded by Tarana Burke, gave her a fresh perspective on “experiences I have had to understand that they were in fact harassment when I had previously minimized them.”
The movie is set to hit the screen on November 18, which focuses on the work of journalists who exposed disgraced movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, in 2017. The film producer is presently serving a 23-year prison sentence after being found guilty in New York. 'The Bug' actress will be seen playing a brief role at the beginning of the flick, where she’d be sharing her experience with Weinstein. Judd also shared that her late mother, and also a popular country singer of her time, Naomi Judd had her back.
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“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,” said the 'Double Jeopardy' star during New York Film Festival premiere of the movie. “She was just enthralled by my audacity, as I later heard from friends,” reported Page Six. She was the first person to go on record with the New York Times accusing Weinstein of sexually harassing her at a hotel in 1997 while filming ‘Kiss the Girls'.
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan will be playing reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor in ‘She Said’, directed by Maria Schrader. It is based on their 2009 novel about their reporting on Weinstein, which played a major part in encouraging others to come out and share their experiences.
Kazan acknowledged that some steps have been taken in the right direction in the film industry, including the hiring of "intimacy coordinators" on sets, setting "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,” said Kazan. She added, “It makes perfect sense… why has this not been here all along?”
Some of the other Weinstein accusers who attended the event were Lauren O’Connor, who had written a memo to the Miramax board on Weinstein’s alleged misconduct, and Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, who reported being assaulted by Weinstein in a hotel room in 2015. It is said that a recording of the real-life wiretap Gutirrez wore while confronting Weinstein is now part of the film.
Weinstein, 70, is currently also facing a second sex crimes trial in Los Angeles for rape and sexual assault.