Lansbury ‘devastated’ by rape comments backlash

ACTRESS Dame Angela Lansbury has said she is “devastated” by the way her comments on women taking the blame for sexual harassment were interpreted.

The Murder, She Wrote star (92) raised eyebrows with an interview in Radio Times in the wake of allegations made against Harvey Weinstein and others in Hollywood.

Now the British-born star, who had a Belfast-born mother, issued a statement saying she is “troubled” by how quickly her quotes were “taken out of context”, with blame attached to “my generation, my age, or my mindset”.

Dame Angela said: “There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner.

“And I am devastated that anyone should deem me capable of thinking otherwise.

“Those who have known the quality of my work and the many public statements I have made over the course of my life must know that I am a strong supporter of Women’s Rights.

“Lastly, I would like to add that I am troubled by how quickly and brutishly some have taken my comments out of context and attempted to blame my generation, my age, or my mindset, without having read the entirety of what I said.”

The actress, soon to star in the BBC’s adaptation of Little Women, had said: “There are two sides to this coin... we have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make

Row: Angela Lansbury themselves attractive. And unfortunately it has backfired on us — and this is where we are today.

“We must sometimes take blame, women. I really do think that. Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.

“Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be! There’s no excuse for that.”

She said sexually inappropriate behaviour in the workplace “will have to stop now”, adding: “I think it will stop now — it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”

Weinstein denies engaging in “non-consensual sexual conduct”.