One of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault accusers, Ashley Judd, is speaking out on her role in the film "She Said."
"She Said," which debuts Nov. 18, highlights the work of journalists who exposed Weinstein in 2017.
Weinstein, 70, is serving a 23-year prison sentence following a conviction in New York. Weinstein, who is on trial in Los Angeles, was granted permission to take his appeal of his 2020 sex crime conviction to the New York State Court of Appeals.
Judd plays a small role in the beginning of the film, sharing her experience with Weinstein. She was one of the victims who came forward to the New York Times in 2017.
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Judd appears in the film, detailing an encounter with Weinstein while on set of 1997's "Kiss the Girls." She agreed to be named in the outlet’s piece that prompted several other women to come forward.
The actress was greeted with a standing ovation at the New York Film Festival debut of "She Said." She was joined by other Weinstein accusers on stage.
"First of all, I just want to acknowledge my sisters and thank them for their courage," Judd told USA Today in a post screening Q&A during which her voice trembled when mentioning her late mother, Naomi Judd.
"I just remember when I was speaking with my mother about this, she said, 'Oh, go get 'em, honey.' ... She was just enthralled by my audacity (to speak out), as I later heard from our friends."
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Judd recalled the moment when Times journalist Nicholas Kristof initially reached out to her, saying, "It was very easy for me to tell this story. ... It was very validating when someone finally wanted to listen and do something about it. And the film was the next step in that.
"It's so important to be in our truth and to have our righteousness in our story. So it was a really simple thing for me to do, and I was very grateful for the opportunity."
Judd was joined on stage by Zoe Kazan, who portrays reporter Jodi Kantor, and Carey Mulligan, who plays journalist Megan Twohey.
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Judd, Kazan and Kantor shared how they were grateful to see the impact of the #MeToo movement in Hollywood.
"I have reframed experiences that I have had to understand that they were, in fact, harassment and assault, when I had previously minimized them," Judd said. Kantor and Twohey's reporting and the #MeToo movement "has allowed women's consciousness to transform and to set boundaries and to claim autonomy."
Weinstein is facing a trial in Los Angeles, where he pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault involving California Gov. Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel and four other women. The women will testify as "Jane Doe" during the trial in a Los Angeles court, where jury selection began Monday.
With the slow process of screening and selecting jurors from a pool of more than 200 people, opening statements are not expected until Oct. 24.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
