Jackson could testify against Weinstein

Sir Peter Jackson. Photo: Getty Images
Sir Peter Jackson. Photo: Getty Images

The Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson has spoken with actor Ashley Judd's legal team and could furnish "powerful'' testimony supporting her defamation and sexual harassment suit against film producer Harvey Weinstein, her attorney says.

Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd

Judd's civil suit, filed in April, accused Weinstein of discouraging Jackson in 1998 from casting her in the blockbuster Lord of the Rings movie franchise in retaliation for her refusing Weinstein's sexual advances.

The lawsuit cited an interview with Jackson published by Stuff in December 2017 quoting him as saying he had heard from Weinstein's former film company, Miramax, that Judd was a "nightmare to work with''.

The New Zealand director, according to the Stuff article, said that assessment of Judd persuaded him not to cast her but he later came to believe she was the victim of a "smear campaign''.

A spokeswoman for Jackson declined to comment further yesterday.

The article surfaced as a central topic at a hearing in which Weinstein's attorney asked a judge in Los Angeles to dismiss Judd's lawsuit.

The judge has not ruled on the request. 

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