The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director, Peter Jackson, has claimed that Harvey Weinstein initiated a smear campaign against Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino that resulted in them being blacklisted from Jackson’s films. Both actresses are among the large number of women who have come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual abuse.
In an interview with Stuff, Jackson narrates how he allowed the smear campaign to influence his decision in casting Judd or Sorvino. This was during the 90’s and at that time the director was still pitching his idea for a Lord of the Rings adaptation to the Weinstein controlled Miramax films.
He recalls expressing a desire to cast Judd and Sorvino, but Miramax convinced him otherwise. “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,” he said. “At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us – but in hindsight, I realise that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing. 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.”
But as for the sexual harassment claims, Jackson says he has “no direct experience or knowledge of the sexual allegations” lobbied against Weinstein, but he still chose not to work with him again because he discovered that Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob were the ones that were a nightmare to work with.
Before New Line Cinema took over production of The Lord of The Rings, Miramax, the studio Jackson pitched the film to was at the helm. “My experience, when Miramax controlled the Lord of the Rings was of Weinstein and his brother behaving like second-rate Mafia bullies. They weren’t the type of guys I wanted to work with – so I haven’t,” he said and he adds, “Although his name had to be on the Lord of the Rings credits for contractual reasons, he was not involved in the movies we ended up making.”
The disagreements between the two became so bad that Weinstein told Jackson to do one film instead of the two the director wanted or else he’s taking the project away. Eventually Jackson and his wife Fran were given four weeks to find an alternative studio to Miramax, that is when New Line stepped in and made the suggestion to do three films instead of two.
Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino have thanked the director on their personal twitter accounts for coming out and being honest about what truly happened. “Peter & Fran had me in – showed me all the creative, the boards, costumes, everything. They asked which if the two roles I preferred, and then I abruptly never heard from them again. I appreciate the truth coming out. Thank you, Peter.” Judd wrote recalling the time Jackson wanted to cast her for Lord of the Rings.
Sorvino meanwhile tweeted out “Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying. 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”.
Harvey Weinstein through a representative has disputed Jackson’s claims. But the director has rebutted back with a statement released in full in Deadline wherein he refers to Weinstein’s denials as “insincere” and “a deflection from the truth”.
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