More than a year after signaling her retirement, Judi Dench, now 91, has just made a rather sensational media comeback. In an interview with Radio Times magazine, the British actor suggested that disgraced Hollywood mogul and convicted felon Harvey Weinstein has “done his time,” noting that “forgiveness” is “personal” to her.
“I saw a bit of film of Harvey walking with two sticks, and you think, Well… I knew Harvey, and I knew him well and worked with him, and I had none of that experience—very fortunately for me,” she said, referring to the hundred or so women who have accused him of engaging in sexual harassment and assault over the past 30 years. (Weinstein has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.)
Weinstein promptly expressed his gratitude to Dench for her defense, releasing a statement that read: “I have always been fond of Judi Dench. She is an extraordinary person who played an important role in my career. I’ve now spent more than six and a half years incarcerated, including a year and a half in Rikers, which counts as double time.”
The statement continued: “I am here for something I did not do, and many of the claims that have been written about me are gradually being shown to be untrue or unsupported. I am grateful for the kind words that have been expressed, and all I want is the chance to return to my family and children.”
As a refresher, accusations of sexual harassment and assault multiplied against Weinstein and gave rise to the #MeToo movement in 2017. In 2023 he was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted on charges of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles. He had also been convicted of sex crimes in New York in 2020, though the verdict was overturned. He was retried last April and in June was convicted on one count of engaging in a criminal sex act and acquitted on another charge.
During her interview with Radio Times, Dench also revealed that she still texts with Kevin Spacey, her costar in the film The Shipping News, who has also been accused of sexual assault. (He has denied all accusations of wrongdoing.) In 2023 the actor was acquitted of all criminal charges brought against him in Britain, but he will face civil claims of sexual assault from three men, all of which he denies, in a London court next year.
