Ashley Judd is speaking out against Harvey Weinstein, once again.
The actress, who accused the defamed movie mogul of sexual assault, is slamming Weinstein’s recent attempt to dismiss the lawsuit against him.
“Harvey Weinstein’s motion to dismiss is a baseless and offensive study in misdirection that demonstrates his malicious and reckless disregard for the law and for Ms. Judd’s rights to be free from sexual harassment and retaliation,” states a brief released by litigator Ted Boutrous.
The claim continues: “It ignores and misstates key allegations in the complaint, impermissibly cites (contradictory) extrinsic evidence, and relies heavily on cases interpreting a statute that has nothing to do with this case. Weinstein also makes the bizarre argument that he purportedly sought to advance Ms. Judd’s career as part of a ‘deal’ for sex that Weinstein presents as real— rather than the decidedly ‘mock bargain’ Ms. Judd alleges she made in her complaint. He even claims that Ms. Judd was no ‘ingénue in the film business when she went to Weinstein’s hotel room,’ saying that she was ‘well-versed in the entertainment industry’ and suggesting that she should have known that a purported business meeting with Weinstein really was a ‘casting couch’ invitation. To state the obvious: conditioning career advancement on sex is textbook harassment.”
RELATED: Ashley Judd Reaches Out To #MeToo Survivors In Open Letter About Healing
In Judd’s lawsuit, the “Heat” actress, 50, claims Weinstein caused her career to halt. She alleges refusing sexual demands from Weinstein in a hotel room 20 years ago destroyed her shot at a starring role in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings”.
Read the rest of her brief here.
