text: Angela Lansbury has followed up on her controversial claims about women needing to “sometimes take blame” for sexual harassment, saying she’s “devastated” by the backlash and interpretation of her comments. 
   
   “There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner,” she said in a statement released Wednesday evening. “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.” 
   
   Speaking to the Radio Times, the 92-year-old actress opined, “We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive. And unfortunately it has backfired on us — and this is where we are today.” Lansbury did add, “Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.” 
   
   She concluded her newly released statement by criticizing the reaction to her remarks in the Times, declaring, “Lastly, 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.” ||||| Actress Angela Lansbury has gotten a taste of online culture in 2017, and she doesn’t seem to have liked it very much. The Beauty And The Beast and Murder, She Wrote star came under fire this week, after people took umbrage at comments she made that stated that women are in some part complicit for making themselves attractive to men who sexually harass or assault them. 
   
   Lansbury’s remarks—which included statements like, “We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive,” and “We must sometimes take blame, women. I really do think that”—were part of a wider conversation in which she also stated that there was no excuse for a man to harm a woman. Caveats aside, though, her comments were still met with a great deal of anger online, including from groups like Rape Crisis England & Wales, which noted that victim-blaming attitudes are only ever harmful to people who have been subject to sexual assault. 
   
   Now, Lansbury has responded to the criticism levied against her, clarifying her points, citing her bona fides as a feminist, and expressing no small amount of anger at the feeling that she’s been misinterpreted or taken out of context. Her statement: 
   
   There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner. 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, 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. 
   
   Which, uh…Welcome to the internet, Dame Angela. ||||| Angela Lansbury has clarified remarks she made about sexual harassment after she was widely criticized for saying women must sometimes "take blame." 
   
   "There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner," the 92-year-old "Murder, She Wrote" star said in a statement to People. "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." 
   
   The actress added that she was "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." 
   
   Lansbury released the statement after she was criticized for remarks she made about sexual harassment during a recent interview with the Radio Times. 
   
   In the interview, Lansbury said "there are two sides to this coin." 
   
   "We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive. And unfortunately, it has backfired on us -- and this is where we are today," Lansbury said. 
   
   She went on to say, "We must sometimes take blame, women. I really do think that. Although it's awful to say we can't make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped." 
   
   Lansbury also added that there was "no excuse" for women being harassed. 
   
   "Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn't have to be," she said. "There's no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now -- it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point." 
   
   After Lansbury's initial remarks, Rape Crisis England & Wales released a statement saying, "It is a deeply unhelpful myth that rape and other forms of sexual violence are caused or ‘provoked’ by women’s sexuality or ‘attractiveness.'" 
   
   Patricia Arquette took Lansbury to task on Twitter. "It doesn't matter how young or old, how beautiful or homely. Rapists rape. End of story," the actress wrote. 
   
   It doesn't matter how young or old, how beautiful or homely. Rapists rape. End of story. — Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) November 28, 2017 
   
   Designer Donna Karan made similar remarks to Lansbury's in the immediate aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal when she suggested that women were "asking for it" by how they dressed. She later apologized and, in an interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts, said, "What I said is so wrong and not who I am." Weinstein denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.
target: – After Angela Lansbury said this week that women need to "sometimes take the blame" for sexual misconduct because they make themselves attractive to men, the backlash was fast and forceful. "It is a deeply unhelpful myth that rape and other forms of sexual violence are caused or 'provoked' by women's sexuality or 'attractiveness,'" ABC News quotes Rape Crisis England & Wales as saying. Actress Patricia Arquette added: "It doesn't matter how young or old, how beautiful or homely. Rapists rape. End of story." Lansbury has now responded to her critics. "There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner," Entertainment Weekly quotes the 92-year-old Murder She Wrote star as saying. "And, I am devastated that anyone should deem me capable of thinking otherwise." Lansbury says she's "a strong supporter of women's rights" and is "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." To which the AV Club quips: "Welcome to the internet, Dame Angela."