The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it will not investigate the abuse shouted at Dame Helen Mirren by an anti-Israel agitator in London.
The Oscar-winning actress. 80, was called a “Zionist b****” while walking with her husband, film director Taylor Hackford, 81.
The incident, which occurred last year, had initially been treated by Scotland Yard as a possible hate crime, but officers have since decided not to take the matter further.
Following discussions with Mirren and Hackford, the Metropolitan Police closed the case without launching a formal investigation.
Footage of the encounter, which recently resurfaced and went viral on social media, shows Mirren smiling and asking the man if he was “ok” as he approached the couple while recording them. The unidentified man then launches into an abusive tirade, saying: “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****. And you [Hackford] as well, f*** you and all.”
Mirren turns to look away, while Hackford, an American film director known for films such as The Devil’s Advocate and An Officer and a Gentleman, told the man to “f*** off”.
The actress has long been a supporter of the Jewish state, having hitchhiked around the country following the Six-Day War and spent time volunteering on a kibbutz with her Jewish then-boyfriend. She has also been a vocal critic of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In 2023, Mirren played Golda Meir, Israel’s prime minister from 1969 to 1974, in the eponymous biopic. She said on Israeli television at the time: “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.”
To prepare for her role as a retired Israeli Mossad agent in the film The Debt, around 2009, Mirren reportedly immersed herself in studying the Hebrew language, Jewish history, and Holocaust writing.
Last month, she joined other celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne, Mila Kunis, and Boy George in signing an open letter supporting Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest. She signed a similar letter in 2024.
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