American actress Ashley Judd opened up about her traumatic experiences involving sexual abuse as she spoke at a panel at the Sundance Film Festival, which occurred last Sunday, Jan. 21. Being one of the frontrunning witnesses to come forward in the heavily discussed case of former producer Harvey Weinstein, Judd talked about ways in which the entertainment industry can help improve the lives of women so they may feel safer and sexually secure.
During the panel, Judd stated that during her first-ever audition as an actress, she was requested to remove her shirt and was told that this was a necessary step in the procedure of screen testing. The 49-year-old actress further elaborated and stated "that isn't about our acting, that's about evaluating a pair of breasts." It can be inferred from Judd's statement that she felt highly objectified by the previous people that she had worked with in Hollywood.
Additionally, Judd was also very open about discussing one of the Sundance filim entries titled "The Tale," which tackles the sensitive issue of sexual assault. Judd stated that she related a lot to the film, especially because of the numerous occasions wherein she alleges that she was sexually violated in the past. Judd also recommended "The Tale," describing it as a "must-watch" film.
Judd also expressed in front of a crowd for Univision's Project Unbound initiative during the film festival that she recognizes that speaking out against Weinstein was a big risk -- and that she was willing to lose everything just to have a chance at attaining some justice for the sexual crimes that the former film producer comitted. Judd knew that she could have been falsely put to prison, or worse, killed, by her coming forward.
The people gave Judd a standing ovation for her words against sexual harassment.
