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Wednesday, 3 September 2008

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Dame Helen Mirren defends date rape comments

Actress wants public to read her comments in full before judging her

Dame Helen Mirren admitted to GQ that she used to take cocaine

Dame Helen Mirren has issued a statement defending her controversial comments about date rape.

In a new interview with GQ, the actress revealed she was assaulted twice as a student.

But the 63-year-old actress didn’t report the incidents because she thought it would be difficult to prove they happened against her will.

'If a woman voluntarily ends up in a man's bedroom with her clothes off? It's such a tricky area, isn't it? Especially if there is no violence,' she says.

'I think she has the right to say no at the last second. But I don't think she can have that man in court under those circumstances.'

Now her publicist Stan Rosenfield has spoken out to explain her stance on date rape after some misread her quotes as meaning a woman shouldn't take a man to court.

‘Helen Mirren does not dispute the accuracy of statements attributed to her in an upcoming GQ article,’ says a statement.

‘She merely asks that people read the article in its entirety before drawing conclusions. If they do that, she says, their conclusions will likely be far less sweeping and sensational than those drawn by some in the popular press.

‘She does not wish to qualify any of her remarks. She just wants to avoid having them presented in inflammatory language.’