Ashley Judd has accused film producer and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment.
According to the actress, two decades ago, the movie executive sent her to his room at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel where he then appeared in a bathrobe and asked her if she wanted a massage.
Weinstein allegedly also asked Judd if she wanted to watch him take a shower.
Judd said she thought she was going to the hotel for a professional breakfast meeting.
The allegation comes as part of a report in the New York Times today by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey which says that there are “decades of sexual harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein.”
“How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?” was what Judd told the Times she was thinking at the time.
Two years ago, Judd made the same allegation in Variety without naming the person who she was harassed by.
She was quoted as saying:
“I was sexually harassed by one of our industry’s most famous, admired-slash-rivaled bosses.
“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.
“There was this whole process of bargaining- ‘Come do this, come do this, come do this.’ And I would say, ‘No, no, no.'”
In a statement to the Times, Weinstein said that he was planning to take a leave of absence.
He also said that he was seeing a therapist so he could deal with the issues “head on.”
“I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”
It is reported that Weinstein has settled eight sexual harassment cases privately over the years.
