In a new interview, the 'Divergent' actress alleges she was forced to watch the movie mogul take a shower in the late 90s.
- Oct 7, 2015
AceShowbiz - Ashley Judd opens up about being sexually harassed by a studio mogul in an interview with Variety's Power of Women issue. The 47-year-old actress and political activist alleges the incident happened when she was filming Paramount's "Kiss the Girls" in 1997.
Ashley claims a mogul from a rival studio, whom she declined to name, kept summoning her to his hotel room under the pretense of talking about roles in his movies. At one point, the movie mogul tried to force her to watch him take a shower.
"I was sexually harassed by one of our industry's most famous, admired-slash-reviled bosses," the "Divergent" actress shares. "I did not recognize at the time what was happening to me. It took years before I could evaluate that incident and realize that there was something incredibly wrong and illegal about it."
Ashley explains that while she now considers herself "empowered," she felt powerless when the incident occurred. "He was very stealth and expert about it," the "Olympus Has Fallen" actress recalls, "He groomed me, which is a technical term - 'Oh, come meet at the hotel for something to eat.' Fine, I show up. Oh, he's actually in his room. I'm like, 'Are you kidding me? I just worked all night. I'm just going to order cereal.' "
"It went on in these stages. It was so disgusting. He physically lured me by saying, 'Oh, help me pick out what I'm going to wear.' There was a lot that happened between the point of entry and the bargaining," she continues, "There was this whole process of bargaining - 'Come do this, come do this, come do this.' And I would say, 'No, no, no.' ... The ultimate thing when I was weaseling out of everything else was, [he asked] 'Will you watch me take a shower?' "
Ashley says she's aware of some other actresses who have also been harassed by the movie mogul. "All the other women, sitting around this table with me, said, 'Oh my god - that's what he said to me too,' " she recalls, "In that moment, I told him something like, 'When I win an Academy Award in one of your movies.' He said, 'No, when you get nominated.' I said, 'No, no, when I win an Academy Award.' "
"That was a small moment of power when I was able to contradict him and hold to my reality. And then I got out of there. And by the way, I've never been offered a movie by that studio. Ever," she adds.
