Emma Thompson to remove name from Polanski petition

And because of a blogger, no less! As a big Emma Thompson fan, I’m relieved to find that after blog reader and blogger Caitlin to put together a petition urging Thompson to take her name off of Bernard-Henri Lévy’s petition supporting Roman Polanski, it looks like the actress has had a change of heart. Reports Caitlin, who met Thompson after speaking at Exeter University:

Emma did not have much time between meetings, but she gave me all of the time that she had. I asked her why she had signed the petition, and she explained about how well she knows Polanski, how terrible his life has been, and how forgiving the survivor of the rape all those years ago now is. She said she thought the intentions of the judge were unclear, as were the intentions of those who arrested him recently. She told me that a lot of her friends had rung her up asking her to sign the petition, so there had been a certain amount of pressure. She said that she had already been thinking a lot about the petition, as others had expressed their dismay at her signing it.
I handed her our petition and the comments. She read them both through thoroughly, and came back to me. She said, while she supported Polanski as a friend, a crime is a crime. I don’t know whether she had realised the extent of Polanski’s crime, but she is now fully aware. She will remove her name from the petition – in fact, she said she would call today and sort it out. Even though, she stressed, Polanski has had some truly terrible experiences in his lifetime, experiences that we couldn’t even imagine and which should not be taken out of the equation, she agreed that she could not put her name to a petition asking for his release.

She also asked Caitlin to pass along a message to petition signers, saying, “Know that I will remove my name because of you, and all of the good work that you have been doing. I have read your petition. I have heard you. And I will listen.” Just awesome. So a big thank you to Emma, but more importantly – thank you Caitlin!
Via Shakesville, who had a hand in this too.