Police investigating possible hate crime after Helen Mirren abused in street
Viral footage has shown Dame Helen Mirren being verbally abused on the street in Tower Hill following comments she made about Israel, with police now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
Clips of the viral footage showed Mirren being called an ‘evil Zionist b*tch’ due to the actor’s continued support of Israel. The man who filmed the video has not yet been publicly identified
Mirren is shown in the video alongside her husband, Taylor Hackford, with the man filming yelling: “And there is Helen Mirren the avowed Zionist. You said Israel should last forever because of the Holocaust. And she was very happy the Palestinians’ houses were gone.
“You are an evil Zionist b*tch.”
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Taken in Tower Hill, London, Hackford steps in and tells him to ‘f*ck off’ and ‘leave them alone’, drawing the ire of the man filming, who continues: “And you, f*ck you as well.” Police believe the footage was taken late last year.
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that the incident is being investigated and they are in touch with the actor to see if she wants to officially complain.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “We are aware of a video circulating online, showing a man and a woman being subjected to antisemitic verbal abuse in Tower Hill.
“It is believed that the incident took place at the end of last year.
“Officers are currently reviewing the footage and making attempts to contact the victims to establish whether they would like to report the incident.
“The Met continues to work hard to tackle hate crimes of all types and officers across London have made more than 90 hate crime arrests since the end of March.”
Mirren is not Jewish but has been a longtime supporter of Israel. She previously 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.”
Mirren first visited Israel in 1967, shortly after the six-day war. She described Palestinians being removed from their homes in what has become known as the Naksa, where Israel occupied the West Bank and displaced 300,000 Palestinians.
She has said of this visit: "I witnessed things that were wrong. I saw Arabs being thrown out of their houses in Jerusalem. But it was just the extraordinary magical energy of a country just beginning to put its roots in the ground. It was an amazing time to be here.”
She also signed an open letter last month calling for Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest. Amnesty International and a United Nations Special Committee have claimed that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, with this leading to calls for them to be removed from the contest. This led to Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia boycotting Eurovision this year due to Israel's inclusion.
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez spoke out about the decision to boycott the contest, saying: "In the face of illegal war and also genocide, silence is not an option and we cannot remain indifferent to what continues to happen in Gaza and in Lebanon.
"This year, therefore, will indeed be different. We will not be in Vienna, but we will do so with the conviction that we are on the right side of history."
LADbible has contacted representatives for Helen Mirren and Taylor Hackford for comment.
Michael Slavin