Helen Mirren says man who called her an “evil Zionist bitch” is “mentally not quite stable”
Helen Mirren has broken her silence after she was called an “evil Zionist bitch” on a London street.
The clip was uploaded to Instagram on May 27th by an anonymous user, called Anti Fascist Action UK, who took responsibility for the video.
In the video, Mirren and her husband, Taylor Hackford, are confronted by a man, who said to them, “There is Helen Mirren, the avowed Zionist. You said Israel should last forever because of the Holocaust. And she was very happy the Palestinians’ houses were gone.”
He added, “You are an evil Zionist bitch“, before then turning his attention to Hackford, stating, “You as well, fuck you and all.”
Subsequently, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “We are aware of a video circulating online, showing a man and a woman being subjected to antisemitic verbal abuse in Tower Hill.”
They also stated, “It is believed that the incident took place at the end of last year,” despite only emerging on social media in May. No further action was taken, following discussion with Mirren and Hackford.
Now, at the Taormina Film Festival, Mirren opened up about the incident, stating she was “attacked by mistake by a man who was maybe a little over passionate or maybe mentally not quite stable”, per The Guardian.
Mirren, who starred in 2023’s Golda, the biopic of Israel’s fourth Prime Minister, Golda Meir, added of her support of Israel, “Evil forces are rising everywhere, even in a country like Israel.”
She also acknowledged the ongoing actions of the Israeli government in Gaza, stating, “How could you possibly repeat the actions of what was done to you as people to other people? Crimes against humanity, it’s called.”
The actor then explained that her support for Israel comes from “the realisation in my parents’ generation of what had happened in the Holocaust was so profound, so important.”
Mirren added, “Therefore, the creation of Israel was a very important moment, although maybe it was done in completely the wrong way, in the wrong place, I don’t know. But something had to happen after the horror.”
Additionally, while at the Taormina Film Festival, Mirren expressed support for her Mobland co-star Tom Hardy after it was recently reported he would not be returning to the show for its third season, saying she would work with him again “in a fucking heartbeat”.
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