# ...Peter Jackson on Weinstein: "they were a nightmare to work with" "avoid them at all costs" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594 "2017-12-15T23:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/21 "2017-12-16T18:01:03Z")
There is no question that Harvey Weinstein is a sexist and bully and all around reprehensible and despicable person. But, facts are facts, and this statement by his spokeswoman fairly convincingly calls into question his alleged blacklisting of Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino. > [@](#): > > A spokeswoman for Weinstein denied Jackson’s allegations in a statement Friday. > > “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 reads. “While Bob and Harvey Weinstein were executive producers of the film they had no input into the casting whatsoever.” > > The rep also states Judd was cast in a pair of Weinstein movies, “Frida” and “Crossing Over,” after 1998, while claiming Weinstein gave Sorvino’s husband Christopher Backus a role in his TV series “SEAL” at Sorvino’s request, before Backus left the gig for another opportunity. [Link](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/mira-sorvino-cried-learning-weinstein-derailed-career-article-1.3700171) In my opinion the first part of the statement is questionable because Miramax was involved in the picture prior to New Line taking it over, and it’s certainly possible that the damning remarks about Sorvino and Judd were made during that time. Thus once New Line took it over and began casting the movie, Weinstein’s previous remarks kept them from being cast. Further, it strains credulity to assert that a movie’s executive producers would have no input whatsoever into the casting of their film. However, the fact that Weinstein subsequently cast Judd in a couple of his movies and cast Sorvino’s husband in a TV series, apparently at her request, does call into question the veracity of the claim that Weinstein was responsible for the alleged destruction of Judd and Sorvino’s careers. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/22 "2017-12-16T18:48:55Z")
Forgive me if I take any statement from Weinstein or his spokepeople on the matter with the entire Lake Erie Salt Mine. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/23 "2017-12-16T19:20:57Z")
Same here. But Weinstein’s spokeswoman’s assertions are easy to verify. There’s no question that Judd appeared in 2002’s _Frida_ and in 2009’s _Crossing Over_, and [_US_ magazine](https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/peter-jackson-harvey-weinstein-cost-mira-sorvino-ashley-judd-lord-of-the-rings/) states that Mira Sorvino just this year called Weinstein and asked him to cast her husband in SEAL/SIX, which he did. The magazine further states that Weinstein even amicably allowed him out of his contract in order to take a better offer elsewhere. So there’s really no question that Weinstein’s spokeswoman’s remarks in regard to his subsequently hiring or doing favors for these two women are true. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/24 "2017-12-16T21:10:20Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > So there’s really no question that Weinstein’s spokeswoman’s remarks in regard to his subsequently hiring or doing favors for these two women are true. …but its also irrelevant. Here is why Ashley Judd was cast in Frida: > [@](#): > > He claimed that my name as an actress was not big enough and that I was incompetent as a producer, but to clear himself legally, as I understood it, he gave me a list of impossible tasks with a tight deadline: > > 1. Get a rewrite of the script, with no additional payment. > > 2. Raise $10 million to finance the film. > > 3. Attach an A-list director. > > \*\*4. Cast four of the smaller roles with prominent actors. > \*\* > Much to everyone’s amazement, not least my own, I delivered, thanks to a phalanx of angels who came to my rescue, including Edward Norton, who beautifully rewrote the script several times and appallingly never got credit, and my friend Margaret Perenchio, a first-time producer, who put up the money. The brilliant Julie Taymor agreed to direct, and from then on she became my rock. For the other roles, \*\*I recruited my friends Antonio Banderas, Edward Norton and my dear Ashley Judd. \*\*To this day, I don’t know how I convinced Geoffrey Rush, whom I barely knew at the time. > **[Opinion | Harvey Weinstein Is My Monster Too (Published 2017)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/13/opinion/contributors/salma-hayek-harvey-weinstein.html)** > > He threatened to shut down “Frida” if I didn’t comply with his demands. Hayek produced that film. Judd wasn’t cast by Weinstein: she was cast by Hayek. There was no conversation with Miramax telling Hayek that Judd was a nightmare to work with and she should avoid them hiring Judd all costs. Because they were friends. And Hayek knew better. Crossing Over was 9 years later. It was distributed in the US by MGM and only internationally by The Weinstein Company. Miramax (the original company in question) had no involvement. As for Sorvino: lets pretend that everything happened exactly as stated. But so what? Its fifteen years later. Things change. It is both perfectly possible for Sorvino to have been blacklisted back in 2000 and for Weinstein to be taking her calls fifteen years later. By doing her a favour for her husband maybe in his twisted mind he thought that he was putting her “in debt” to him. Maybe he got off on that. Neither story changes what Peter Jackson said. He’s either lying or he isn’t. Can you think of any good reason why Peter Jackson would bring Ashley Judd in, show her all the creative, the boards, costumes, everything, ask her which of the two roles she preferred, and then never contact her again? Weinstein’s enablers have a track record of spinning “the truth” and I see no reason to give them the benefit of the doubt now. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/25 "2017-12-16T21:16:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The story I remember is that Jackson started shipping the film around as two movies because three scared most companies. New Line said “We looked at your proposal but we think it should be three movies.” …here’s Jackson’s retelling of what happened: > [@](#): > > Then, according to Jackson, the Weinstein’s completely “blew it” by telling the filmmakers to make only one ‘Lord of the Rings’ film saying, “You’ve got to squeeze it into one film.” They then almost lost the entire project to director John Madden. > > … > > Then Harvey said to Fran and I, “You’ve got to make one movie, or I’m going to take it away from you, and I’ve got John Madden lined up to direct the one movie, and I’ve got Hossein Amini to write the screenplay.” He had other people all set to go on making “The Lord of the Rings” as one film, and then our manager negotiated a four-week turnaround where he said to Harvey, “You’ve got to give Peter and Fran a chance. They’ve worked on this for too long. You’ve got to give them a chance to set it up somewhere else as two films.” Harvey gave us four weeks to do that, and then he was going to take it back and it would be the end of us. > > … > > And we went into New Line’s office at the end of that week, and the credit really ultimately belongs to Bob Shaye who was the head of New Line at that stage. He looked at the reel and said, “You know what I don’t get is why you want to do two films.” And we thought, “Oh, here we go. He’s going to try to make us do one film now. The same story.” But the very next thing he said was, “Why would you do two films when there’s three books? Why wouldn’t you do three films?” And that was the way he took the project on. [http://www.indiewire.com/2012/12/peter-jackson-explains-how-the-lord-of-the-rings-was-almost-one-film-directed-by-john-madden-how-some-careful-lies-saved-the-project-in-four-weeks-103140/](http://www.indiewire.com/2012/12/peter-jackson-explains-how-the-lord-of-the-rings-was-almost-one-film-directed-by-john-madden-how-some-careful-lies-saved-the-project-in-four-weeks-103140/) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/26 "2017-12-16T21:24:41Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > As far as the whole “women directors can’t do action” nonsense, Kathryn Bigelow made the most impactful war film I ever saw _[The Hurt Locker](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/reference)_. That piece of shit should keep her from working again but instead she got an Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/27 "2017-12-16T22:09:50Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > What I am getting at is, more often than not, the directors are are similar to leaders. …directors are not “similar” to leaders. Directors are leaders. You don’t think women can be leaders? Only 2% of women are suitable to lead? > [@](#): > > In that they they provide direction and let the actors, screenwriters, make their own contributions and guide them along without trying to over Micromanage every detail. Historically, men have had more success in that than women. Forget history. We know that men have had more “success” than women in practically every field. History doesn’t make that right. It doesn’t have to be that way. What is it about women that makes it so difficult to provide direction and let actors, screenwriters, make their own contributions and guide them along without trying to over Micromanage every detail? Why can’t women do this? > [@](#): > > Again look at Kathleen Kennedy, she lets everyone associated with the production do their best and tries to guide them along and most people working with her, often don’t notice (or care) after the initial impression that she is a lady. What is it about “being a lady” that stops all the other women in the world from being a producer or a director? Why do you think the single example of Kathleen Kennedy makes some sort of a point? > [@](#): > > That could be the difference in the levels of micromanagement. There are exceptions to every rule (ie Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel in terms of political leaders ) but men in general seem to be better accepted a leader even if the women are just as qualified. Better accepted by whom? Why would you not accept a women as a leader, especially if they were just as qualified? Doesn’t being qualified as a leader mean a women leader would have the exact same qualities as a male leader? Why would you choose to accept one but not the other? > [@](#): > > If you look at the recent example of Taika Waititi, he made it fun for everyone on the set to work, that may be the difference You think women are incapable of making it fun for everyone to be on set? So on your list of things that women can’t do: -Have fun -Be leaders -Provide direction -Stop micromanaging -Let the actors, screenwriters to make their own contributions -Guide actors screenwriters to make their own contributions -Get people to do their best Is there anything else that you don’t think women can do? You are right about one thing though. Women don’t get directing jobs because attitudes like yours are shared by those that have power in Hollywood. > [@](#): > > Thanks No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/28 "2017-12-16T22:34:55Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That piece of shit should keep her from working again but instead she got an Oscar. …the **only** woman to ever have won an Oscar for best directing. Maybe making “pieces of shit” movies is the secret of success. Just imagine if she didn’t win that Oscar! Then there would have been **zero** woman best directors. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/29 "2017-12-16T22:41:33Z")
…from Bad Santa director Terry Zwigoff: > [@](#): > > “I was interested in casting Mira Sorvino in BAD SANTA, but every time I mentioned her over the phone to the Weinsteins, I’d hear a CLICK. What type of person just hangs up on you like that?! I guess we all know what type of person now. I’m really sorry Mira.” > **[‘Bad Santa’ Director Says He Was Also Discouraged From Hiring Mira Sorvino](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/bad-santa-director-says-he-was-discouraged-hiring-mira-sorvino-1068673/)** > > "I was interested in casting Mira Sorvino in BAD SANTA, but every time I mentioned her over the phone to the Weinsteins, I'd hear a CLICK," Terry Zwigoff wrote Friday on Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/30 "2017-12-16T23:17:50Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …the **only** woman to ever have won an Oscar for best directing. Maybe making “pieces of shit” movies is the secret of success. Just imagine if she didn’t win that Oscar! Then there would have been **zero** woman best directors. Ideally there should be enough woman directors that we shouldn’t have to worry about how many get nominated or win. The badness of the movie is no reflection on her gender but a failure of understanding the subject matter being portrayed. I’ve questions on Veterans pages that ask what is the worst military movie in history and inevitably more than half of the votes are for Hurt Locker. My comment was directed at the post I quoted. The movie may have been impactful to those who didn’t have any personal experiences with the subject but to most who have its cringeworthy. There’s no doubt on the technical side it’s a well crafted movie. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/31 "2017-12-16T23:27:12Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Ideally there should be enough woman directors that we shouldn’t have to worry about how many get nominated or win. The badness of the movie is no reflection on her gender but a failure of understanding the subject matter being portrayed. I’ve questions on Veterans pages that ask what is the worst military movie in history and inevitably more than half of the votes are for Hurt Locker. My comment was directed at the post I quoted. The movie may have been impactful to those who didn’t have any personal experiences with the subject but to most who have its cringeworthy. There’s no doubt on the technical side it’s a well crafted movie. …oh I know exactly what you meant: I’ve heard those criticisms before and I think they are valid. Its just that your post highlighted two of the absurdities of Hollywood: that women both can’t get directing jobs and when they do they rarely get recognized for it, and that women who “fail” (by whatever metric Hollywood power players use for “failure”) they are kept from “working again”, while men who “fail” get “punished” with bigger budgets for their next movie. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/32 "2017-12-17T00:54:25Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …directors are not “similar” to leaders. Directors are leaders. You don’t think women can be leaders? Only 2% of women are suitable to lead? > > Forget history. We know that men have had more “success” than women in practically every field. History doesn’t make that right. It doesn’t have to be that way. What is it about women that makes it so difficult to provide direction and let actors, screenwriters, make their own contributions and guide them along without trying to over Micromanage every detail? Why can’t women do this? > > Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. There has been more men as directors in the past and that trend is likely to continue > > What is it about “being a lady” that stops all the other women in the world from being a producer or a director? Why do you think the single example of Kathleen Kennedy makes some sort of a point? > > I was pointing out an female example to show that they can. Here are 2 more examples Penny Marshall or Penelope Spheeris > Better accepted by whom? Why would you not accept a women as a leader, especially if they were just as qualified? Doesn’t being qualified as a leader mean a women leader would have the exact same qualities as a male leader? Why would you choose to accept one but not the other? > > Historically, Males have been the leaders. > > You think women are incapable of making it fun for everyone to be on set? > > Never said that. > > So on your list of things that women can’t do: > > -Have fun > -Be leaders > -Provide direction > -Stop micromanaging > -Let the actors, screenwriters to make their own contributions > -Guide actors screenwriters to make their own contributions > -Get people to do their best > > Never said that specifically for women. I just mentioned those are the qualities of a good director whether male or female. > > Is there anything else that you don’t think women can do? > > Let’s see > > 1. Play linebacker in the NFL > 2. Get another woman pregnant > 3, Grow a long beard > 3. Go on a shooting rampage and shot 50 of so people (Not including Russian WW2 snipers)😃 > > Aside from that, woman have done almost everything a man has done. > > You are right about one thing though. Women don’t get directing jobs because attitudes like yours are shared by those that have power in Hollywood. > > Actually, I am one who supports good woman directors and I was trying to help you out with examples > > Give it time, if there are good women directors, they will end up directing more movies. As the Harvey Weinsteins are weeded out more women will step up to direct. > > No thanks. Thanks for the input ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/33 "2017-12-17T02:34:57Z")
The existence of M. Night Shyamalan’s recent output pretty clearly proves that there’s no such thing as “make a movie so bad that you’ll never direct again”. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/34 "2017-12-17T06:50:57Z")
Women can’t grow beards? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/35 "2017-12-17T07:12:10Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > One item about guys in general - they are more conquest or task oriented than woman and may be better suited to the director/producer role by their very nature. If you view getting people to do their jobs as a _conquest_, I guess. But if you do view a manager or director’s job that way, I wouldn’t want to work for you. I’ve recently read some articles about how there’s indications that involving women in peace negotiations leads to longer-lasting, more solid agreements. There are things we’re more likely to take into account than men; we’re also less prone to zero-sum views. My best managers never threatened me/us. There were warnings, sometimes. “We have to do X by Z date - if it’s not ready the project will suffer, there will be [these] consequences.” But those warnings were always followed by a search for solutions, with people proposing ideas and everybody actually listening. My worst managers, whether male or female, did view work as a _conquest_. To them, it is not important for the team to do our best possible job; what is important is that nobody must give an idea that’s better than their own proposal. What is important is bullying people. They’d hear on Monday that you were called to put out a fire over the weekend and their reaction would be “don’t expect compensation”; “what do you want, a pat on the back?”. They point and laugh when people are uncomfortable, and make a note of what was it that made them uncomfortable so they can use it against them. If that’s what you (whichever you is reading this) think a manager should be like, may you and I never find ourselves in the same team, because you have no idea what a team is. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/36 "2017-12-17T07:48:55Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Ideally there should be enough woman directors that we shouldn’t have to worry about how many get nominated or win. The badness of the movie is no reflection on her gender but a failure of understanding the subject matter being portrayed. I’ve questions on Veterans pages that ask what is the worst military movie in history and inevitably more than half of the votes are for Hurt Locker. My comment was directed at the post I quoted. The movie may have been impactful to those who didn’t have any personal experiences with the subject but to most who have its cringeworthy. There’s no doubt on the technical side it’s a well crafted movie. A bad movie for sure. Seems to be written by someone who didn’t know anything about the subject matter. And didn’t know how people talk to each other. Hated it. Sorry to derail. Weinstein probably is a bastard． ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/37 "2017-12-17T08:09:03Z")
I feel kinda bad for Mira Sorvino for not getting the role in _Bad Santa_, but I feel more aroused by Lauren Graham’s performance in _Bad Santa_, so I’m torn, or at least my pants are. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/38 "2017-12-17T08:53:34Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …but its also irrelevant. Here is why Ashley Judd was cast in Frida: > > [Opinion | Harvey Weinstein Is My Monster Too - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/13/opinion/contributors/salma-hayek-harvey-weinstein.html) > > Hayek produced that film. Judd wasn’t cast by Weinstein: she was cast by Hayek. There was no conversation with Miramax telling Hayek that Judd was a nightmare to work with and she should avoid them hiring Judd all costs. Because they were friends. And Hayek knew better. > > Crossing Over was 9 years later. It was distributed in the US by MGM and only internationally by The Weinstein Company. Miramax (the original company in question) had no involvement. > > As for Sorvino: lets pretend that everything happened exactly as stated. But so what? Its fifteen years later. Things change. It is both perfectly possible for Sorvino to have been blacklisted back in 2000 and for Weinstein to be taking her calls fifteen years later. By doing her a favour for her husband maybe in his twisted mind he thought that he was putting her “in debt” to him. Maybe he got off on that. > > Neither story changes what Peter Jackson said. He’s either lying or he isn’t. Can you think of any good reason why Peter Jackson would bring Ashley Judd in, show her all the creative, the boards, costumes, everything, ask her which of the two roles she preferred, and then never contact her again? Weinstein’s enablers have a track record of spinning “the truth” and I see no reason to give them the benefit of the doubt now. Good info, thanks for the post. My mind has been changed. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/39 "2017-12-17T11:24:05Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Good info, thanks for the post. My mind has been changed. …all good mate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594/40 "2017-12-17T14:17:02Z")
So what does that say about female stars who prospered during this era and who haven’t spoken out - anyone heard from, say, Nicole Kidman? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jackson-on-weinstein-they-were-a-nightmare-to-work-with-avoid-them-at-all-costs/804594.md?page=3)