As the #TimesUp and the #MeToo movements have gained traction, it has seen many reflect on their past behavior and choices, and see it in a new light. For example, actors and actresses whom have worked with Woody Allen, have expressed their regrets. Harvey Weinstein confidantes have expressed guilt about how they could have done much, much more to speak out about his behavior.
There has also been renewed consideration about Roman Polanski, a director that Hollywood has honored for decades, even though he pleaded guilty in 1977 to sexually assaulting the then 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. Over the years, many Hollywood celebrities have defended Polanski, or simply worked with him, separating art and politics, but the tide is changing.
One of those celebrities that defended Polanski was Natalie Portman who is now owning up to her past “mistake.” Promoting her latest film “Annihilation,” Portman spoke with BuzzFeed, about a 2009 petition she signed in support of Polanski. The petition (also signed by Sam Mendes, Jeremy Irons, Isabelle Adjani, and others) was started after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland. The director faced possible extradition to the United States to face the charges from the 1977 case, after he had fled the country, when word circulated that the judge wasn’t going to adhere to the plea deal.
“I very much regret it,” Portman said. “I take responsibility for not thinking about it enough. Someone I respected gave it to me, and said, ‘I signed this. Will you too?’ And I was like, sure. It was a mistake. The thing I feel like I gained from it is empathy towards people who have made mistakes. We lived in a different world, and that doesn’t excuse anything. But you can have your eyes opened and completely change the way you want to live. My eyes were not open. I think there’s a direct connection between believing women about their own experience and allowing women to be experts of their own experience and every woman’s voice being heard.”
“Whether it’s someone talking about their work and not being listened to, or someone talking about their own experience of assault and being told that they don’t know what they’re talking about, I think there’s a direct connection between that. Of course, do I know anyone’s experience? No. But would I question a man who said ‘someone stabbed me’? Never! You know? I think it’s bizarre,” she added.
Despite Portman saying we lived in “different world” back then, the truth is that the national debate when it came to Polanski was very divisive even back in 2003. Separating art from the artist is a conversation that the #TimesUp and the #MeToo have brought new dimension to, and it will certainly continue in the months ahead.