| Harvey Weinstein arriving to court in New York City on Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges. Seth Wenig/AP |
The 50-year-old actress claimed she lost out on a part in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ after she rejected the shamed movie mogul’s sexual advances in a lawsuit filed in April, and on Tuesday (17.07.18) a court heard how Weinstein argued the ‘Divergent’ star had “filed this action 20 years too late” as the alleged incident happened in 1998.
In court documents obtained by The Blast, the producer claims that the single incident was not “pervasive or severe” enough to amount to sexual harassment, as well as not meeting the statute of limitations.
Paperwork stated: “Weinstein’s alleged unwanted sexual advances occurred on a single day and consisted of him asking to give Plaintiff a massage, asking her to help him pick out clothes, and asking her to watch him shower. These allegations fall far short of meeting the ‘pervasive or severe’ required element.”
Judd had alleged that she was blacklisted by Weinstein after the incident and that it affected her career, but he replied by saying “contention that she would have been a bigger star had she been cast in the films is wholly speculative”.
In the original filing, Judd accused Weinstein of “retaliating” after she turned down the producer.
The court documents read: “The pathetic reality, however, was that Weinstein was retaliating against Ms. Judd for rejecting his sexual demands approximately one year earlier, when he cornered her in a hotel room under the guise of discussing business. A self-described ‘benevolent dictator’ who has bragged that ‘I can be scary,’ Weinstein used his power in the entertainment industry to damage Ms. Judd’s reputation and limit her ability to find work.”
The Hollywood star is claiming for damages, an order to prevent Weinstein from “engaging in further retaliatory conduct towards” her, an injunction against Weinstein to “cease engaging in unfair competition” and legal costs.