Portman regrets signing petition for Polanski
Actor Natalie Portman regrets signing a letter demanding the release of French-Polish film director Roman Polanski, when he was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 in a case related to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in 1977.
“I very much regret it. I take responsibility for not thinking about it enough. Someone I respected gave it to me, saying, ‘I signed this. Will you too?’ And I was like, sure. It was a mistake,” she told Buzzfeed. Portman was among the highprofiled Hollywood celebrities, including Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Emma Thompson, to sign the petition. “The thing I feel like I gained from it is empathy towards people who have made mistakes. We
lived in a different world, and that doesn’t excuse anything. But you can have your eyes opened and completely change the way you want to live. My eyes were not open,” she added.
The Annihilation actor, however, sidestepped questions about Woody Allen, who has been accused of sexual abuse by his step-daughter Dylan Farrow. When asked whether the multiple Oscarwinning director’s career is over in the wake of massive sexual harassment scandal, Portman said, “Let’s not talk about what man’s career is over. Let’s talk about the vast art trove we’ve lost by not giving women, people of colour, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community opportunities... Let’s talk about that loss for all of us in art. Let’s talk about that huge hole in our culture.”