Actress Ashley Judd has heaped praise on the New York Times editors who agreed to run the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal story.
The Frida star was one of the women who came forward with sordid tales of awkward encounters with the movie mogul as part of reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s expose, which was published earlier this month (Oct17).
The women detailed Weinstein’s abuses against them, which prompted over 50 others, including Oscar winners Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Mira Sorvino, speaking out about Harvey.
The scandal led to Weinstein stepping down from the board of The Weinstein Company – the production firm he co-founded with his brother, and he is now seeking psychological treatment. It also cost him his marriage to designer Georgina Chapman, who left the movie boss days after the New York Times piece was published.
Now, Judd feels validated for being among the first to speak out, because the scandal appears to have kickstarted a movement of mistreated women. And the actress is very happy with the way the Times handled her story.
Speaking at the Women’s Media Center’s Women in Media Awards, where she was honored on Thursday night (26Oct17), Judd told news show Extra, “I feel glorious… I know that I am part of something that is historic and unprecedented and I feel… divine is a pretty accurate word.
“There was something about being a named source in a newspaper like The New York Times that gave others the permission that we had previously been afraid to give ourselves. Having the backing of that particular media outlet, that venerable institution, was important.
“I had the full support of the editorial board, of the publishers, of their legal team and, you know, as much as each of us, I think, individually wanted to tangle with Harvey, that’s a very tall order when you’re looking at the kinds of resources and power that he has.”
