Ashley Judd has insisted Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction being overturned was a "hard day for survivors".
Ashley Judd responds to Harvey Weinstein's quashed 2020 rape conviction
The New York Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday (25.04.24), with a majority 4-3 vote, that the disgraced movie mogul did not receive a fair trial after they found prosecutors were allowed to call witnesses whose accusations were not the focus of the case.
But Ashley, 56, who was the first actress to come forward with allegations against Weinstein, insisted: "We live in our truth."
She told BBC News: "Oftentimes survivors say that the betrayal and the moral injury we suffer within the system is worse than the sexual body invasion we experienced in the first place."
The ruling declared Weinstein, 72, had been tried on his past behaviour, not solely the crimes he had been charged with.
But he will remain in prison for a separate 2022 rape conviction.
Producer Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted on charges of criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006, alongside rape in the third degree for an attack on an actress in 2013.
He was also sentenced to 16 years in jail following his 2022 Los Angeles conviction, but at the same time was acquitted on charges involving one of the women who had testified at the 2020 New York trial.
Speaking about those who came forward in the New York case, Ashley said: "We know what happened and the truth is consistent."
Ashley is part of the Silence Breakers Group, who represent women who accused Weinstein and others of sexual misconduct.
Following the overturning of Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, The Silence Breakers said in a statement: "The news today is not only disheartening, but it’s profoundly unjust.
"But this ruling does not diminish the validity of our experiences or our truth; it’s merely a setback.
"The man found guilty continues to serve time in a California prison.
"When survivors everywhere broke their silence in 2017, the world changed.
"We continue to stand strong and advocate for that change. We will continue to fight for justice for survivors everywhere."
Tomi-Ann Roberts, a Colorado College professor, who has alleged she was sexually harassed by Weinstein in 1984, hopes Weinstein's conviction overturn will "re-energise the #MeToo movement".