The entertainment industry has been in an uproar over the past few months, as more and more people have been involved in sexual harassment and assault scandals. While most of the celebrities who have chimed in on the matter have been supportive of the victims, in a new interview Angela Lansbury had a completely different take on the situation.
In fact, according to the Telegraph , Lansbury has apparently said that in some of these situations it is the women who need to take some of the blame for what has happened to them, because these women “go out of their way to make themselves attractive.” As the actress, who is known for her role in Murder, She Wrote , explained “there are two sides to this coin.” Angela Lansbury said that since the very beginning of time, women have done whatever it is they can to be considered as attractive as possible. The actress then said that this desire to be attractive has instead “backfired on us,” which has led to the issues so many women are dealing with today.
Angela Lansbury outright said that she believes “we must sometimes take blame, women.” While the actress did say that she thinks it is awful to make it seem as if a woman is unable to make themselves as attractive as they may want to be for fear of being harassed or assaulted, it is still something that needs to be considered.
Although Angela Lansbury said that women are to blame for the occurrences of sexual harassment or assault that seem to be so prevalent in the industry at this time, she did clarify her statement a bit by saying that the fault does not actually lie with the individuals themselves. The actress made it clear that women should not have to be prepared to be raped just because of how they look, that “there’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now — it will have to.” In fact, not only does she think that sexual harassment will stop to a certain extent, but she also indicated that she believes that there are a lot of men who are going to be worried now because of their past behavior.
As Radio Times reported, Angela Lansbury has said that in her time in the industry she has never been the victim of sexual harassment or assault from any of the male executives that she has worked with over the years. However, while the actress may not have been a victim, there have been plenty of women and men who have stepped forward to share their stories over the last few months.
While the idea that women and their attractiveness is the reason that women have been sexually harassed might be Angela Lansbury’s opinion, that particular opinion has already drawn some harsh criticisms not only from social media, but also from the Rape Crisis England & Wales which apparently issued a statement of their own. In their statement in response to the actress, they said that “it is a deeply unhelpful myth that rape and other forms of sexual violence are caused or ‘provoked’ by women’s sexuality or ‘attractiveness.’”
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