Judi Dench Under Fire for Claiming Harvey Weinstein Has Paid His Dues

Judi Dench gave an interview that set social media on fire, and yes, it involves Harvey Weinstein. She was asked about him, she answered, and the internet had thoughts. Lots of them.

What Dench actually said

Talking to The Radio Times on her 91st birthday, Dench was asked about Weinstein, the former movie mogul who became a central figure in the #MeToo reckoning and is a convicted sex offender. Dench worked with him for years and says she never personally experienced what others reported. She also said she feels for the women who did.

She mentioned seeing a recent clip of Weinstein walking with two canes and reflected on it, then added the line that kicked off the uproar:

'I imagine he’s done his time... I don't know, to me it's personal - forgiveness.'

To clarify: that is her opinion. Weinstein is still in custody. He is a convicted sex offender and is currently being held at Rikers Island in New York.

The context

Dench has a long professional history with Weinstein from the Miramax/Weinstein Company era. She says she knew him well and worked with him closely, but did not encounter the behavior others accused him of. That disconnect is part of why her comments drew so much attention.

The reaction online

The response on X (formerly Twitter) swung sharply negative, with people zeroing in on the 'done his time' line and the idea of 'forgiveness' here. Replies piled up under Variety's repost of the story too. The general mood:

• Some said Dench was basically using the 'he was always nice to me' defense.
• Others took shots at her age and suggested she was dropping a final bomb before exiting the stage.
• A recurring theme: celebrities do not need to weigh in on everything.
• And of course, the jokes: variations on 'never ask a woman her weight, a man his height, or an elderly Brit about sexual assault cases.'

Why it landed the way it did

This is the kind of quote that sounds almost matter-of-fact in conversation but reads like a verdict online. Dench framed forgiveness as personal and spoke from her own experience working with him. The public read it against the larger facts: multiple convictions, ongoing incarceration, and years of testimony from victims. Those two realities crashed into each other, and here we are.