Ashley Judd is speaking out for the first time since she accused of Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment in a New York Times expose earlier this month.
In an interview with Diane Sawyer that aired Thursday on Good Morning America, Judd described her fear when she found herself inside Weinstein’s Beverly Hills hotel back in 1996 as he asked her first for a massage and then to watch her shower.
She made it out of the room without being assaulted, but just a few months later was again accosted by the predator she claims when he grabbed her hand at an Oscars afterparty while she walked by him.
The resulting photo shows the two are friends Weinstein told Sawyer, while Judd explained that her face shows a look of ‘abject terror.’
‘It’s very – it’s very gross. It’s very gross,’ said Judd
‘I feel for that 28-year-old, 29-year-old woman.’
Judd also detailed the night just a few years later when she finally stood up to him at a crowded party while Barbara Walters look on after he hinted at an alleged pay-for-play trade that would provide her with a good script in exchange for sexual favors.
‘And he has spat my name at me ever since,’ said Judd, who inspite of this said that is she saw Weinstein should say: ‘ I love you and I understand that you are sick and suffering and there is help for a guy like you too and it’s entirely up to you to get that help.’
Speaking out: Ashley Judd sat down with Diane Sawyer in her first interview since accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment (above on Good Morning America)
‘Very gross’: Judd also revealed that she was in ‘abject terror’ when Weinstein grabbed her hand at an Oscars afterparty the following year (Judd, Weinstein and Vinve Vaughn in 1997)
Judd gave a full account of her trip to Weinstein’s room at the Peninsula Hotel, saying that at the time she had heard no rumors about his predatory ways.
She revealed however that she still felt uneasy the second she got news about the change in plan fore their meeting.
‘I remember the lurch when I went to the desk and I said, “Mr. Weinstein, is he on the patio” and they said “he’s in his room” and I was like, oh, you’re kidding me,’ explained Judd.
‘I had a business appointment. Which is, as that is his pattern of sexual predation, is how he rolled.’
Soon after she was in the room he began to make demands, first of a massage, and she quickly became frustrated with his behavior.
‘Volley of nos. Maybe he herd them as yeses. Maybe it turned him on,’ said Judd, who added that to this day she could still remember the layout of the room because she quickly realized there were no nearby exits.
Then he asked her to join him in the bathroom and watch him shower.
She again denied his request.
‘He kept coming back at me with all this other stuff and finally I just said, when I win an Oscar in one of your movie, okay,’ said Judd.
‘”When you get nominated.” I said, “no, when I win an Oscar” and then I just fled, which I think, you know, am I proud of that, I’m of two minds, the part that shapes 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. Well done.’
She then added: ‘It’s a very important word, shame and it’s a very important thing to talk about so we all do the best we can and our best is good enough.’
Judd told agents and fellow actors about what had happened to her after the fact, and they all just turned a blind eye, fearful perhaps of what Weinstein might do to them or their career.
Sawyer then pulled out a photo that she was sent by Weinstein that showed him and Judd on the red carpet at an Oscars afterparty, with the two both appearing to smile.
This was snapped just a few months after the incident in Weinstein’s hotel.
‘He says that this shows that you were friends, that you were fine,’ said Sawyer.
‘That he even tried to fix you up with his brother or did fix you up with his brother [Bob].’
Judd said that the two had tea once in public, then explained: ‘ That’s, deny, attack, reverse the order of offender and victim.’