Anne Hathaway is apologizing after her newest movie, “The Witches”, faced backlash from the disability community.
Sharing a video to Instagram from the Lucky Fin Project, an organization that raises awareness of children with limb differences, Hathaway said that she does her “best to be sensitive to the feelings and experiences of others.”
Hathaway added, “Not out of some scrambling PC fear, but because not hurting others seems like a basic level of decency we should all be striving for. As someone who really believes in inclusivity and really, really detests cruelty, I owe you all an apology for the pain caused. I am sorry. I did not connect limb difference with the GHW when the look of the character was brought to me; if I had, I assure you this never would have happened.”
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The mom of two then apologized to the kids and families of children with limb differences.
“I particularly want to say I’m sorry to kids with limb differences: now that I know better I promise I’ll do better. And I owe a special apology to everyone who loves you as fiercely as I love my own kids: I’m sorry I let your family down,” she concluded.
In the film, Hathaway’s character, Grand High Witch, is shown with hands that are similar to the limb abnormality Ectrodactyly, also known as “split hand.”
In Dahl’s 1983 novel, the witches are said to have “square feet with no toes” and “claws instead of fingernails.”
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Warner Bros. previously released a statement to ET Canada where they “regretted any offence caused.”
Adding, they are “deeply saddened to learn that our depiction of the fictional characters in ‘The Witches’ could upset people with disabilities.”
