Actresses Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino have thanked Sir Peter Jackson for ‘being honest.’
The women, who have claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Weinstein, both missed the opportunity to be cast in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, due to comments made by Weinstein and his brother.
In an interview with Stuff, Jackson spoke about the way in which the Weinstein brothers orchestrated a smear campaign to have the actresses blacklisted by him.
Miramax, a film company led by the Weinstein brothers, told Jackson that Judd and Sorvino were ‘nightmares to work with.’
“I recall Miramax telling us they were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs. This was probably in 1998,” said Jackson.
“I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women – and as a direct result their names were removed from our casting list.”
Jackson described the brothers as “second-rate Mafia bullies”.
Weinstein and Jackson in 2004.
The actresses took to Twitter to thank Jackson for his honesty.
“Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying,” Sorvino wrote.
“There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you, Peter Jackson, for being honest. I’m just heartsick.”
Peter & Fran had me in – showed me all the creative, the boards, costumes, everything,” Judd wrote.
“They asked which [of] the two roles I preferred, and then I abruptly never heard from [them] again. I appreciate the truth coming out. Thank you, Peter.”
“I vaguely remember bumping into him [Weinstein] at some award show or premiere at the time of their release, but it’s been 20 years since my last interaction of any substance with Harvey Weinstein,” Jackson said.
“Movie making is much more fun when you work with nice people.”
