Angela Lansbury ‘devastated’ over sexual harassment comments, says they were taken out of context

Angela Lansbury has clarified comments she made to a British magazine earlier this week saying women “must sometimes take blame” for being sexually harassed.

“There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner,” the five-time Tony Award-winning actress, 92, said in a statement Wednesday night. “And, I am devastated that anyone should deem me capable of thinking otherwise. Those who have known the quality of my work and the many public statements I have made over the course of my life must know that I am a strong supporter of Women’s Rights.”

“Lastly,” she said, “I would like to add that I am troubled by how quickly and brutishly some have taken my comments out of context and attempted to blame my generation, my age, or my mindset, without having read the entirety of what I said.”