Anne Hathaway apologizes after The Witches offends disability community

When The Witches received blowback from the disability community, Warner Bros. made an “I’m sorry if you’re offended” apology. Now, star Anne Hathaway has stepped up.

Last week, HBO Max released The Witches, Robert Zemeckis’ new adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book. Generally, the response was pretty “meh,” but there was significant blowback from members of the disability community, including from para-Olympians, disability advocates and the Para-Olympic Games themselves.

The backlash started when it was pointed out that the villain of the story, the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway), has three long fingers (only visible when she removes her gloves), a detail that wasn’t present in the original story. Some saw this as belittling people with with the limb abnormality ectrodactyly, also known as “split hand,” usually identifiable by the absence of one or more central digits on the hand or foot. Effectively, The Witches associating people who have this condition with monsters.

Warner Bros. released a statement, saying that it was “deeply saddened to learn that our depiction of the fictional characters in THE WITCHES could upset people with disabilities, and regret any offense caused.” Basically, they went full “we’re sorry if you’re offended.” Now, Hathaway has released her own statement, teaming up with the Lucky Fin Project — an organization dedicated to helping people with limb differences — to do it:

"I have recently learned that many people with limb differences, especially children, are in pain because of the portrayal of the Grand High Witch in The Witches.Let me begin by saying I do my best to be sensitive to the feelings and experiences of others not out of some scrambling PC fear, but because not hurting others seems like a basic level of decency we should all be striving for. As someone who really believes in inclusivity and really, really detests cruelty, I owe you all an apology for the pain caused. I am sorry. I did not connect limb difference with the GHW when the look of the character was brought to me; if I had, I assure you this never would have happened.I particularly want to say I’m sorry to kids with limb differences: now that I know better I promise I’ll do better. And I owe a special apology to everyone who loves you as fiercely as I love my own kids: I’m sorry I let your family down."

It’s certainly a better apology than the one Warner Bros. gave, starting with the fact that it actually includes the words “I am sorry.”

The Witches is available to watch on HBO Max now.

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