Portman regrets signing petition in Polanski’s support
Los Angeles: Actor Natalie Portman regrets signing a letter demanding the release of Roman Polanski when he was arrested in Switzerland in 2009. The Oscar- winner was among the high profiled Hollywood personalities, to sign the petition calling Polanski’s release following his arrest and detention while in Switzerland. “I very much regret it. I take responsibility for not thinking about it enough. Someone I respected gave it to me, and said, ‘ I signed this. Will you too?’ And I was like, sure. It was a mistake,” Portman told Buzzfeed.
“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 Oscar- winning director’s career is over in the wake of massive sexual harassment scandal, Portman said, “I don’t think that’s what the conversation should be about. I think it should be about: Why didn’t Elaine May make a movie every year? Why didn’t Nora Ephron make a movie every year? Where’s the female version of Bill Cosby? Why don’t we see any Asian women in films? There’s so much art that’s being lost by not giving opportunities to women and people of colour.”