Angela Lansbury has had an extraordinary Hollywood career spanning seven decades, and in a recent interview she shares her thoughts on the current wave of sexual harassment allegations that are rocking the entertainment industry.
Addressing the recent spate of accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, Lansbury, 92, says that women’s attempts to “look attractive” have “backfired,” bringing us to “where we are today.”
“There are two sides to this coin,” the “Beauty and the Beast” star told Radio Times, reports the Daily Mail.
“We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive,” added Lansbury.
“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,” continued the “Murder, She Wrote” actress.
She added: “Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be! There’s no excuse for that… I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”
Lansbury’s comments were criticized on Twitter by a number of people, including actress Patricia Arquette, who slammed her for blaming the victims of sexual harassment.
In a new statement, Lansbury says she is “devastated” by how her original comments were received.
“There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner,” she said in a statement published Wednesday by Entertainment Weekly and BBC.
“And, I am devastated that anyone should deem me capable of thinking otherwise,” Lansbury continued. “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.”
The 92-year-old actress also had her own criticism to dish out. “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.”
