Ashley Judd fearlessly shared one of the darkest events in her past, which taught her to fight and stand up for herself. The actress who is now promoting gender equality has revealed that she was sexually harassed during her younger years.
For the Power of Women issue of Variety, the 47-year-old actress recalled how she was harassed by a studio mogul. Ashley Judd was still in her late 20s when the incident happened. She was filming for her movie 'Kiss the Girls' from Paramount when a mogul from a rival studio tried to seduce her.
The man, whom she chose not to name, used his power and authority to sexually harass the 'Divergent' star and other talents in Hollywood. The mogul used movie projects and roles to lure Judd and his other victims.
"He was very stealth and expert about it. He groomed me, which is a technical term - Oh, come meet at the hotel for something to eat. Fine, I show up. Oh, he's actually in his room. I'm like, Are you kidding me? I just worked all night. I'm just going to order cereal," narrated Judd.
The offender who is one of the most famous, admired-slash-reviled bosses in the industry as Ashely Judd described, even tried to physically lure the actress thinking she will fall into his traps.
"Oh, help me pick out what I'm going to wear," said the unnamed harasser.
"Will you watch me take a shower?" he also said.
The 'Missing' star said no to all of the mogul's requests. It took time before the actress finally realized that what has happened to her was sexual harassment and it was illegal. After fully comprehending the incident, Ashely Judd became hard on herself for not calling the police or doing the best thing she could've done.
The Hollywood star is aware that people might question her for not getting out of the hotel room when the incident happened which is 'victim-blaming'.
Judd's experience was not easy for her but it contributed a lot to the belief that she is now holding on to.
A few years after the incident, during the premiere of her film 'Double Jeopardy', the actress had an opportunity to reveal the man who harassed her. She was ready to reveal him but he tried to shut her down.
"I think I'll let you out of that deal we made," the man said.
Ashley Judd was able to confront the man who abused her.
