A federal judge in Los Angeles has dismissed Ashley Judd’s sexual harassment claim against Harvey Weinstein but said she could proceed with a defamation claim against him. Judd had accused Weinstein of defaming her in 1998 after she refused what she said were his sexual advances a year earlier. In her lawsuit, filed in April 2018, the actor accused Weinstein of smearing her reputation by discouraging director Peter Jackson from casting her in his blockbuster movie franchise The Lord of the Rings. But Gutierrez said Judd’s relationship as an actor with the film producer was not covered under the California statute she had cited. Judd’s lawsuit had alleged Weinstein “cornered her in a hotel room in 1997 under the guise of discussing business”.

Source: The Guardian January 10, 2019 05:48 UTC