She also had a message for Weinstein.
Ashley Judd refuses to be silent. The 49-year-old actress gave her first televised interview on Thursday morning since she was quoted in a New York Times expose earlier this month, alleging that producer Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed her and made unwanted advances toward her in his hotel room.
On Thursday morning, Judd spoke with Diane Sawyer in a segment, which aired on Good Morning America, and got candid about the incident and the aftermath since speaking out.
“First of all I’m very blessed to be here and I know that, so thank you,” she said as she began to tear up.” I didn’t expect that I would feel tearful, but it’s been an absolutely tremendously moving two and a half weeks.”
Judd spoke with her parents about her decision to go public with her claims against Weinstein, saying, “I talked with my mom and told her what I was thinking about doing and she said, ‘Go get him.’”
The Golden Globe nominee then went into detail about the day she was sent up to Weinstein’s hotel room.
“I had no warning,” she said of the longtime rumors of Weinstein’s inappropriate behavior. “I remember the lurch when I went to the desk and I said, ‘Uh, Mr. Weinstein, is he on the patio?’ and they said, ‘He’s in his room.’ And I was like, ‘Ugh, are you kidding me?’”
She noted that she decided to go up to his room because, “I had a business appointment, which is his pattern of sexual predation. That’s how he rolled.”
Once inside the room, Judd was subjected to many of Weinstein’s unwanted advances, which she did her best to shut down.
“There’s this constant grooming negotiation going on. I thought no meant no,” she said. “Maybe he heard them as maybes. Maybe he heard them as yeses. Maybe he turned them on. I don’t know.”
She also talked about memorizing the room’s floor plan, desperate for a way out.
Judd also replied to Weinstein’s claims that he plans to reach out to her in a year, saying she has “no idea” if she’d actually meet him.
“I believe there is hope and help for everyone. It has to be appropriate help. It has to be a real profound understanding on the sexual predator knowing that what they did is wrong and criminal,” she said.
Of his claims that he had “consensual sex” with the women he slept with, Judd said, “He might very well believe that.”
Judd added that to escape the situation, she told him, "‘When I win an Oscar in one of your movies, okay?' When I win an Oscar in one of your movies.”
“He’s like, ‘Yeah, when you get nominated.’ I said, ‘No! When I win an Oscar.’ And then I just fled.’”
She went on to say, "Which I think, 'Am I proud of that?' I'm of two minds. The part that shames myself says, 'No.' The part of me that understands the way shame works says that was absolutely brilliant. Good job, kid. You got out of there. Well done."
She also had a message for the disgraced producer, saying, “What I would say to Harvey is, ‘I love you, and I understand you are sick and suffering and there is help for a guy like you too. And it is entirely up to you to get that help.’ It's just who I am. It's frankly an easier way to roll through the world than the alternative.
Since Judd’s NYT interview, over 60 women have come forward with their own accounts of sexual harassment and/or assault regarding Weinstein. He’s also been fired from the Weinstein Company and his wife, Georgina Chapman, has left him.
For more on the Weinstein scandal, watch the clip below.