Regardless, Judy worked closely with all three men throughout her career, which took off when Harvey's production company Miramax acquired the 1997 film. Mrs Brownthis was her first leading role in a film.
Then in 2001, Judy starred opposite Kevin in the 2001 film. Shipping Newsand he was a source of comfort to her after her husband Michael Williams died that same year.
As you probably know, Harvey is currently in prison after his sentenced to 23 years for rape and sexual assault in New York in 2020. In a separate case in Los Angeles, Harvey was sentenced to 16 more years after he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Kevin was accused of sexual harassment and assault by some men in 2017, which he vehemently denied. He was found not guilty of committing several sexual offenses against four men in 2023. However, he faces three more claims sexual assault in London civil court next year.
And in a new interview with the magazine Radio TimesJudy, 91, attracted scrutiny after admitting she and Kevin still text each other and said she believed Harvey had “served his time”.
Back in 2019, Judy told same publication that she believed Kevin and Harvey's work should be separated from their alleged crimes, then saying of Kevin: “Are we going to undo 10 years at the Old Vic and everything he did, how wonderful he was in all those films?”
“Aren’t we just going to watch all those movies Harvey produced?” she continued. “You can't deny someone talent. You might as well never look at a Caravaggio painting. You might as well never go to Noël Coward.”
And a new interview explains that Judy has been a Quaker since she attended Quaker boarding school as a teenager. A Quaker is a member of a Christian movement from 17th century England known as the Religious Society of Friends. The movement focuses on living out the values of peace, integrity and equality, with forgiveness being a core value of the Quaker belief system.
When asked if her Quaker beliefs meant she was able to find forgiveness for both men, Judy replied: “Kevin was exonerated, and I'm hearing from Kevin, we're writing. I saw the bit in the movie where Harvey walks around with two sticks, and you think, 'Well…'”
“I knew Harvey, knew him well and worked with him, but I didn’t have that experience—much to my luck,” she continued. “I think he's served his time… I don't know, it's personal to me – forgiveness. I just think…” Radio Times writes: “Her voice trails off and we'll leave it at that.”
The reporter then notes, “To soften the tone, I'm asking if she has a celebrity crush,” which leads Judy to express her admiration for Johnny Depp, with whom she worked on Pirates of the Caribbean continuation and also ChocolateAnd Murder on the Orient Express. IN PiratesJohnny's character bites off an earring from Judy's character's ear, and she tells a reporter that she has the earring framed at home.
“I had to sit in a carriage in Greenwich and they said, 'Johnny Depp is going to jump through the window, kiss you and jump out,'” she recalled. “He jumped, but didn’t kiss me, but came up to my ear and took off the earring with his teeth. And I said: [disappointed voice]: 'This is all?' and it actually persists.”
“So, was that kind of a moment for you?” – asked the interviewer, writing Judy's answer as follows: “Well, of course, Johnny Depp, he…” – she fans herself.
As I'm sure you know, Johnny has faced his share of accusations over the years. In 2020, a British court ruled that it “essentially truetabloid newspaper The Sun called Johnny a “wife beater” after they published an article that mentioned his ex-wife. Amber Heard testimony that he raped her several times between 2013 and 2016.
Needless to say, Judy's comments about these men were not well received, and many took particular issue with her, saying that she personally had no negative experiences with Harvey. One person wrote: “When she worked with Spacey, she was 67 years old. His victims were young men and boys. When she started working with Weinstein, she was 63 years old. His victims were young women with no power. Ignorance of any of these facts is a problem for me.”
As always, let me know what you think in the comments below!
