Judi Dench has been criticised by fans after speaking out in support of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
In 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of first-degree and third-degree rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison. The New York Court of Appeals later overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction, deeming that the judge at the trial gave improper rulings. This included the decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
However, Weinstein remains imprisoned, serving a 16-year sentence following a 2022 California rape conviction, which acting legend Dench recently addressed in conversation with the Radio Times, telling the publication she felt “he’s done his time”.
“I don’t know, to me it’s personal – forgiveness,” she said in a recent interview with The Radio Times. “I saw a bit of film of Harvey walking with two sticks, and you think, ‘Well…’ I knew Harvey, and I knew him well and worked with him, and I had none of that experience, very fortunately for me.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Dench revealed that she texts exiled Hollywood star Kevin Spacey. “Kevin has been exonerated, and I hear from Kevin, we text,” she said.
I admire the actress Judi Dench but I will never understand why any woman, or anyone feels they should ever speak up for serial abusers like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. Just yuck what a stain on Judi Dench image and legacy. https://t.co/kYKmBxG3KY
— X@PR.BEARD (@xnotobeard) December 8, 2025
This has caused a stir on social media, with many fans expressing disappointment. “I will never understand why any woman, or anyone feels they should ever speak up for serial abusers like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey,” wrote one X/Twitter user. “Just yuck what a stain on Judi Dench image and legacy.
“A shocking lack of empathy for women victims (and the sheer scale of hurt and devastation that Harvey Weinstein left in his wake)…from Dame Judi Dench,” added another user. “Kevin Spacey was NOT exonerated. Shame on the dame. What does Fame do to people???”
In 2017, Oscar-winning actor Spacey was accused of sexual assault by Anthony Rapp, before more individuals came forward with further allegations over the following years. Spacey was found not liable for battery relating to Rapp’s accusations in New York in 2022, while the following year he was found not guilty in the UK in relation to nine counts of sexual assault.
After the allegations surfaced, Netflix terminated its relationship with Spacey, with the final season of House Of Cards made without him, while a planned Gore Vidal biopic for the streamer was cancelled. His scenes in 2017’s All The Money In The World were also reshot with Christopher Plummer.
As The Independent notes, Dench had been vocal in her support of both Weinstein’s and Spacey’s talents previously, and has argued that people should separate art from the artist in light of their alleged offences.
“Are we going to negate 10 years at the Old Vic and everything that he did, how wonderful he’s been in all those films?” she said of the House of Cards star in 2019.
“Are we just not going to see all those films that Harvey produced? You cannot deny somebody a talent. You might as well never look at a Caravaggio painting. You might as well never have gone to see Noel Coward.”
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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