Ashley Judd using Peter Jackson, LOTR as evidence in Harvey Weinstein lawsuit

Ashley Judd is using Sir Peter Jackson's refusal to cast her in The Lord of the Rings as evidence Harvey Weinstein derailed her career, after she rejected his sexual advances.

Judd has accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and defamation, citing his "baseless smears" about her to Sir Peter as the reason she missed out on a role in the Oscar-winning trilogy.

The Divergent actress was one of the first women to come forward as part of the #MeToo movement, publicly detailing a "breakfast meeting" with Weinstein, in which he asked Judd to watch him shower and to let him massage her. 

Speaking to Stuff in December of last year, Sir Peter admitted that he had blacklisted Judd and another actress, Mira Sorvino, on the advice of Weinstein's company Miramax.

"I recall Miramax telling us they were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all cost. This was probably in 1998," said the Braindead filmmaker.

"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." 

Both actresses then took to Twitter to thank Sir Peter for his honesty, with Judd explaining she'd previously had no idea why she had been dropped from the project. 

Sir Peter had decided to cut ties with Weinstein even before learning of the allegations against him, stating Weinstein and his brother behaved "like second rate Mafia bullies".

A spokesman for Harvey Weinstein has denied allegations of defamation, stating: "Mr Weinstein neither defamed Ms Judd nor ever interfered with Ms Judd's career, and instead not only championed her work but also repeatedly approved her casting for two of his movies over the next decade."

Judd's lawsuit has been filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.