Getty Images for Muhammad Ali Center/Duane Prokop(NEW YORK) — Actress and activist Ashley Judd sat down with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer for her first television interview since going public with her allegations about Harvey Weinstein. The movie producer has been accused by numerous women of making unwanted sexual advances, and of sexual assault, including rape.
In the exclusive interview, Judd said she was a young actress when Weinstein allegedly cornered her in a hotel room some 20 years ago under the guise of a business meeting — an allegation Weinstein denies.
Judd says she knew nothing then of Weinstein’s reputation. When she realized what was really happening — that Weinstein wanted sex — she struck a deal to escape Weinstein’s advances.
“Finally I just said, ‘When I win an Oscar in one of your movies, ok?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, when you get nominated.’ And I said, ‘No. When I win an Oscar.’ And then I just fled.”
Judd says she has mixed feelings about making that “deal.”
“I’m of two minds. The part that shames myself says no. The part of me that understands the way shame works says, ‘That was absolutely brilliant. Good job, kid, you got out of there.'”
Judd said in 1999, a few years after that hotel room encounter with Weinstein, he made a reference to it in public, across a table at which Barbara Walters was also sitting.
“Remember that little agreement we made? I think I’ve got that script for you,” Judd recalls Weinstein saying. That was the final straw for the actress, who says by then she had come into her own and “found my voice.”
“I was coming right at him, across the table,” Judd said, at which point she said Weinstein declared “You know, Ashley, I’m gonna let you out of that little agreement we made.”
“You do that, Harvey. You do that,” Judd says she replied, adding, “And he has spat my name at me ever since.” Judd later made two movies with Weinstein’s studio.
Weinstein’s rep has issued a blanket denial that Weinstein ever engaged in non-consensual sex, or retaliated against any women “for refusing his advances.”
Judd says even given her experience with Weinstein and his alleged reprehensible behavior, she has a kinder message for him now.
“I love you and I understand that you are sick and suffering,” says Judd, “and there is help for a guy like you, too. And it’s entirely up to you to get that help.” When Sawyer said a lot of people would be surprised to hear her say that, Judd responded: “It’s just who I am. You know, frankly, it’s an easier way to roll through the world than the alternative.”
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