Los Angeles - Harvey Weinstein on Friday
denied barring actresses Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino from
working on the movie adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" or
blacklisting them from further projects.
Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual harassment by more
than 50 women, including Judd and Sorvino, was responding to
remarks by "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson.
Reuters is unable to independently confirm the misconduct
allegations and Weinstein has denied having non-consensual sex
with anyone.
In an interview with New Zealand website Stuff on Thursday,
Jackson said he expressed interest in casting Judd and Sorvino
in the movie while pitching the project to Weinstein's
production company Miramax.
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"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," Jackson said.
"At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys
were telling us... 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," he added.
The "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy later went to New Line
Cinema and released in 2001.
Weinstein's spokeswoman Holly Baird said in a statement that
Harvey and his bother Bob "had no input into the casting
whatsoever" on "Lord of the Rings."
The statement said that Judd was subsequently cast by
Weinstein in two other movies - "Frida" and "Crossing Over."
It added that Sorvino called Weinstein earlier this year to
ask if her husband, actor Christopher Backus, could be cast in
the TV series "Six" that he was producing "and Mr. Weinstein
cast him."
Judd, responding on Twitter on Friday, recalled having
detailed talks with Jackson about "Lord of the Rings" but "then
I abruptly never heard from him again."
Sorvino said on Twitter that she "burst out crying" when she
read Jackson's remarks, calling them "confirmation that Harvey
Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was
unsure."
Representatives for the two actresses did not respond on
Friday to a request for further comment.