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Mira Sorvino ‘Heartsick’ About Confirmed Harvey Weinstein Smear Campaign

Mira Sorvino burst into tears when filmmaker Peter Jackson confirmed her worst fears, confessing Harvey Weinstein allegedly advised him not to cast her in Lord Of The Rings.

The Oscar winner always felt the disgraced movie boss had derailed her career after she spurned his alleged sexual advances – and now it seems her concerns have been validated.

Jackson told news website Stuff that he was warned about working with the actress and Ashley Judd when he was involved in early negotiations with Weinstein’s film company Miramax.

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The moviemaker, who eventually chose to tie himself to executives at New Line Cinema for the trilogy, told the website, “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.

“At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us, but in hindsight, I realize 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.”

Weinstein has responded to Jackson’s claims, insisting the director was “fed false information” about the actresses.

Representatives for Harvey issued a statement on Friday (15Dec17), which reads: “Mr. Weinstein has nothing but the utmost respect for Peter Jackson. However, as Mr. Jackson will probably remember, because Disney would not finance the Lord of the Rings, Miramax lost the project and all casting was done by New Line.

“While Bob and Harvey Weinstein were executive producers of the film they had no input into the casting whatsoever.”

Judd was among the first wave of women to expose Weinstein as an alleged serial predator in a New York Times article published back in October (17). Sorvino revealed the producer regularly “harassed” her for a sexual relationship and even showed up at her apartment in the mid-1990s.

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She went on to claim her career was affected by the Weinstein snub, adding, “I won an Oscar with Miramax. To not continue and star in their movies much past that doesn’t make sense. I felt if I had accepted Harvey’s advances, I would have continued to make movies with them… I was not offered any movie roles past 1996.”

After reading Jackson’s comments earlier this week (beg11Dec17), Mira realized her smear campaign fears were for real.

“Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying,” she wrote on Twitter. “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.”

Judd has also responded to the filmmaker’s comments, tweeting: “I remember this well.”

Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cara Delevingne have also made allegations of harassment and assault against Weinstein.

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In the statement released on Friday, Weinstein’s rep adds: “Until Ashley Judd wrote a piece for Variety two years ago, no one at the Company knew that she had a complaint and she was cast in two other films by Mr. Weinstein and Mira Sorvino was always considered for other films as well. There was no indication that Mira Sorvino had any issues until Mr. Weinstein read about the complaints in the news.

“As recently as this year, Mira Sorvino called Mr. Weinstein and asked if her husband could be part of the SEAL television series he was producing and Mr. Weinstein cast him. When Christopher Backus received a better offer, Mr. Weinstein allowed him to amicably break his contact to peruse the opportunity.”

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