Lawyer says director Peter Jackson may testify against Weinstein in Judd’s trial

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson has spoken to actor Ashley Judd’s legal team and may provide “powerful” testimony in support of her defamation and sexual harassment lawsuit against film producer Harvey Weinstein, her lawyer said on Tuesday. Judd’s civil lawsuit, filed in April, accuses Weinstein of discouraging Jackson from casting her in the hit “Lord of the Rings” film series in 1998 in retaliation for refusing Weinstein’s sexual advances. The lawsuit cites an interview with Jackson published by New Zealand news website Stuff in December 2017, which quoted him as saying he had heard from Miramax, Weinstein’s former film studio, that working with Judd was a “workplace nightmare.” According to the Stuff article, the New Zealand director said Judd’s assessment convinced him not to cast her, but he later concluded she was the victim of a “smear campaign.” A spokeswoman for Jackson declined to comment further Tuesday. The article came up as a central topic during Tuesday’s hearing, where Weinstein’s lawyer Phyllis Kupferstein asked U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez in Los Angeles to dismiss Judd’s lawsuit. The judge did not grant the motion. Judd’s attorney, Theodore Boutrous, told the court that her legal team spoke with Jackson and determined that he was correctly quoted in the Stuff article and that Weinstein himself had disparaged Judd to Jackson. Boutrous said after the hearing that Jackson had information that could prove to be key testimony to support Judd’s claims. “We believe he’s going to be a powerful witness, and I’ll put him up against Harvey Weinstein any day of the week,” Boutrous told reporters. Weinstein has also been charged with sexual assault in a separate criminal case in New York. He has denied having consensual sex with anyone. Judd was one of the first women to publicly accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct in October 2017, helping to spark the #MeToo social media movement against sexual misconduct that has contributed to the downfall of several leading figures in media, entertainment, politics and corporate America. Boutrous told reporters that her lawsuit could go to trial within a year. Judd, who starred in 1990s thrillers “Kiss the Girls” and “Double Jeopardy,” argues in her lawsuit that her failure to land a role in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy undermined her career. Kupferstein told the judge that saying someone is a “nightmare” does not necessarily reflect that person’s professional skills. “I don’t think there are sufficient facts at this time for her to bring defamation charges against Mr. Weinstein,” Kupferstein said. Neither Judd nor Weinstein were present at the court hearing. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Paul Tait)