Judi Dench calls Kevin Spacey "absolved" and expresses compassion for Harvey Weinstein.
Dame Judi Dench recently discussed the current state of her personal relationships with both Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, following the public controversies surrounding each man.
“Kevin has been absolved,” Dench, who is 90 years old, stated in a conversation with The Radio Times, which was made public on Sunday, December 7. “I keep in touch with Kevin; we text each other regularly.”
Dench and Spacey, 66, shared screen time in the 2001 motion picture The Shipping News. Their relationship developed into a friendship when Spacey provided support to Dench in the wake of her husband Michael Williams' death in the same year.
In 2017, Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey made an unwanted sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was underage. Spacey refuted these accusations. Subsequently, the American Beauty actor was removed from his position on Netflix’s House of Cards and lost other professional opportunities.
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Half a decade later, Spacey was determined not responsible in a $40 million civil lawsuit filed against him by Rapp. In 2023, the actor was found innocent by a U.K. jury of all criminal charges stemming from allegations made by four other individuals.
During her interview with The Radio Times, Dench also expressed compassion for Weinstein, with whom she collaborated frequently throughout her career. (The disgraced producer, who served as a central figure in the 2017 #MeToo movement, faced accusations of harassment, abuse, and rape from numerous women, allegations he has consistently denied.)
“I viewed some footage of Harvey walking with two canes and you think, ‘Well…’” Dench stated to the publication on Sunday. “I knew Harvey and had a close working relationship with him, and I personally never experienced any of those things — very fortunately for me. I believe he has served his sentence. I don’t know, forgiveness, to me, is a private matter.”
Weinstein and Dench collaborated on numerous projects, including Mrs. Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Mrs. Henderson Presents, and Philomena.
In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York, receiving a sentence of 23 years in prison. Two years subsequent to that, Weinstein faced trial for similar misconduct claims in California, where he was also found guilty and given an additional 16-year prison sentence.
Four years following the New York verdict, the state’s Court of Appeals vacated his rape convictions. This decision was based on "significant procedural flaws" because the judge permitted victims to provide testimony regarding allegations that were outside the parameters of the specific case being tried. A new trial was subsequently mandated. Weinstein remained incarcerated because his California conviction was unaffected by this ruling.
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Earlier this year, a jury convicted Weinstein on one count of criminal sexual act involving former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, but found him not guilty of the same charge concerning former model Kaja Sokola. However, on the final count involving Jessica Mann, a judge declared a mistrial in June. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the "jury foreman refused to return to the jury room on Thursday after stating he received threats from other jurors."
Weinstein has persistently maintained his lack of culpability. During a televised interview with podcaster Candace Owens in May, Weinstein stated his readiness to undergo a polygraph examination to demonstrate his innocence.
“I did not commit these crimes. I attest to this before God, those currently observing, and on behalf of my family,” he stated.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
