Dame Helen Mirren was confronted on a London street Wednesday evening by a pro-Palestine activist who hurled antisemitic abuse at the 80-year-old Oscar-winning actress and her husband, director Taylor Hackford.
The incident took place near Tower Hill as Ms. Mirren was walking at night with Mr. Hackford when a man approached the couple while filming them on his phone. Video footage shows Ms. Mirren initially calm, smiling and asking the man whether he was “OK” as he approached.
The man then launched into an expletive-filled tirade, calling her “Helen Mirren the avowed Zionist” and referencing past statements she made about Israel’s right to exist following the Holocaust. “You are an evil Zionist b——,” he said, directing similar abuse at Mr. Hackford. Mr. Hackford stepped in and repeatedly told the man to leave them alone.
The footage was first published by an anonymous account called Anti-Fascist Action UK.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism condemned the incident, calling it “absolutely appalling” in a post on X. The organization said: “We are now at a point where public figures can be screamed at and abused simply for being perceived as being sympathetic to the world’s only Jewish state or unwilling to conform to an ideological litmus test. This is not activism. It is intimidation, mob behaviour and extremism masquerading as moral virtue.”
Ms. Mirren, who is not Jewish, has been publicly vocal about her support for Israel for decades. She first visited the country in 1967, shortly after the Six-Day War, volunteering on Kibbutz HaOn near the Sea of Galilee and hitchhiking around the country.
Her most prominent recent expression of that support came through her portrayal of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in the 2023 film “Golda.” Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 while promoting the film, Ms. Mirren said: “I believe in Israel, in the existence of Israel, and I believe Israel has to go forward into the future, for the rest of eternity. I believe in Israel because of the Holocaust.”
She also revealed that some people had urged her not to take the role because of Israel’s standing on the world stage, but she defended her decision, adding that she had “met such extraordinary people in Israel.”
Last month, Ms. Mirren signed an open letter backing Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest, joining celebrities including Amy Schumer, Mila Kunis, Sharon Osbourne and Boy George.
Ms. Mirren has also criticized cultural boycotts of Israel, opposing the movement to isolate Israeli artists.
The incident echoed a similar confrontation earlier this year, when comedian Matt Lucas was accosted by a pro-Palestinian activist on the London Underground. Mr. Lucas, 51, was followed and filmed on a Tube escalator by Thomas Abdullah Bourne, who shouted “Free Palestine” and called him a “Zionist” before Mr. Lucas walked away.
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