--- title: Peter Jackson: Harvey Weinstein, Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd description: Peter Jackson says he believes Harvey Weinstein's company caused him to blacklist Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino, two of Weinstein's accusers. canonical: https://time.com/5066394/peter-jackson-harvey-weinstein-interview/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-15T17:32:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T23:32:18.000Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Peter Jackson: Weinstein Made Me Blacklist Ashley Judd og:description: Weinstein's accusers says it's proof he discredited women who refused him og:url: https://time.com/5066394/peter-jackson-harvey-weinstein-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd85a1168365c318a/6988f53fdb2987459425e1a2/peter-jackson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Premiere Of New Line Cinema, MGM Pictures And Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies" - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Peter Jackson: Weinstein Made Me Blacklist Ashley Judd twitter:description: Weinstein's accusers says it's proof he discredited women who refused him twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd85a1168365c318a/6988f53fdb2987459425e1a2/peter-jackson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Peter Jackson: Harvey Weinstein Made Me Blacklist Accusers Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:32 PM UTCPublished: Dec 15, 2017 5:32 PM UTC  Peter Jackson attends the premiere of New Line Cinema, MGM Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" at Dolby Theatre on December 9, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Peter Jackson attends the premiere of New Line Cinema, MGM Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" at Dolby Theatre on December 9, 2014 in Hollywood, California.Kevin Winter—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:32 PM UTCPublished: Dec 15, 2017 5:32 PM UTC _The Lord of the Rings_ director [Peter Jackson](http://time.com/4129124/peter-jackson-fuels-rumors-direct-episode-doctor-who/) said he suspects [Harvey Weinstein](http://time.com/4979258/harvey-weinstein-what-happens-next/)‘s company fed him information to discourage him from working with [Ashley Judd](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/) and [Mira Sorvino](http://time.com/4978659/mira-sorvino-harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment/), two of the [dozens](http://ew.com/movies/women-accused-harvey-weinstein-sexual-misconduct/harvey-weinsteins-accusers/) of women who have publicly accused the producer of sexual misconduct this year. In an interview with New Zealand news website _Stuff_, Jackson said that he didn’t have [direct knowledge of the allegations against Weinstein.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/99885932/sir-peter-jackson-breaks-silence-on-harvey-weinstein) But he now believes the Weinstein brothers, who [originally](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hobbit-how-harvey-weinstein-stands-410016) controlled the rights to _The Lord of the Rings series_ at Miramax, convinced him not to cast Judd and Sorvino. “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 – but in hindsight, I realise 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.” A Weinstein spokesman denied he had any influence over the casting for the films. “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,” the statement said. The statement also denied that the Weinsteins knew Judd or Sorvino had complaints about Miramax or Harvey Weinstein’s behavior until the stars went public. Weinstein has repeatedly denied “any allegations of non-consensual sex,” but [acknowledged](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html?%5Fr=0) in October that “the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.” Sorvino and Judd responded to Jackson on Twitter. “There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career,” Sorvino wrote. “I’m just heartsick.” > [](https://twitter.com/MiraSorvino/status/941689525960556544) > [](https://twitter.com/AshleyJudd/status/941535611592282112) Judd and Sorvino are among dozens of women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Many of the women said that they believed rejecting Weinstein’s advances [hurt their careers](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/harvey-weinstein-accusations.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5066394/peter-jackson-harvey-weinstein-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5066394/peter-jackson-harvey-weinstein-interview/"},"headline":"Peter Jackson: Harvey Weinstein Made Me Blacklist Accusers Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino","datePublished":"2017-12-15T17:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T23:32:18.000Z","description":"\"There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career,\" Sorvino tweeted.","url":"https://time.com/5066394/peter-jackson-harvey-weinstein-interview/","keywords":["sexual misconduct","Harvey Weinstein","onetime","MeToo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd85a1168365c318a/6988f53fdb2987459425e1a2/peter-jackson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd85a1168365c318a/6988f53fdb2987459425e1a2/peter-jackson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premiere Of New Line Cinema, MGM Pictures And Warner Bros. 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