Dame Judi Dench — who’s said she had Harvey Weinstein’s initials tattooed on her rear for launching her Hollywood career — can’t turn the other cheek when it comes to his alleged sex harassment.
In a statement Monday, Dench lanced the disgraced movie mogul over the recent cascade of reports alleging his lewd behavior toward young actresses and female employees.
“Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past twenty years, I was completely unaware of these offenses, which are, of course horrifying and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out,” said her statement, first reported by Newsweek.
The 82-year-old British actress — currently starring as Queen Victoria in “Victoria and Abdul” — won an Oscar for 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love,” which was produced by the Miramax film company co-founded by Weinstein and younger brother Bob.
In 2011, Dench publicly praised Weinstein while accepting a British Film Institute award in London, saying her success in movies was “thanks to Harvey, whose name I have had tattooed on my bum ever since.”
Weinstein later claimed to have seen the tattoo — which he said reads “JD loves HW” — when Dench showed it off to him and fellow diners, including Mike Nichols, Nora Ephron and Carly Simon, at the Four Seasons restaurant.
Weinstein was fired on Sunday from the Weinstein Company, which he and Bob co-founded after leaving Miramax.