Dame Helen Mirren called ‘evil Zionist b****’ in chilling street confrontation

Dame Helen Mirren was called an “evil Zionist b****” by a man who confronted her on a London street over her support for Israel, prompting condemnation from antisemitism campaigners.

The video circulating online from the AntiFascistActionUK Instagram account shows the actress walking with her husband, film director Taylor Hackford, when a man approaches them while filming on his phone and begins challenging Mirren over previous comments she made about Israel.

At first, Mirren appears calm and asks the man if he is alright.

The confrontation then escalates as the individual references remarks the actress made while promoting the 2023 film Golda, in which she portrayed former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir.

In the footage, the man says: “And there’s Helen Mirren, the avowed Zionist. You said Israel should last forever because of the Holocaust.”

He later shouts: “You’re an evil Zionist b****”.

He also directs abuse at Hackford, saying: “And you as well.”

Hackford responds by repeatedly telling the man to “f*** off”.

The individual behind the AntiFascistActionUK Instagram account is understood to be activist Tom Carroll, according to social media account GnasherJew.

The video was later shared by Campaign Against Antisemitism, which described the incident as “absolutely appalling”.

The abuse Dame Helen Mirren has received recently is vile and unacceptable.

We stand with her completely. pic.twitter.com/ZC9QT2LwG0

— NJA (@NJA_UK) May 28, 2026

In a statement posted on X, the organisation said: “We are now at a point where public figures can be screamed at and abused simply for being perceived as being sympathetic to the world’s only Jewish state or unwilling to conform to an ideological litmus test.

“This is not activism. It is intimidation, mob behaviour and extremism masquerading as moral virtue.”

Mirren has previously spoken publicly about her support for Israel’s right to exist and opposition to cultural boycotts targeting Israeli artists.

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 in 2023, she said: “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.”

The actress has also spoken about volunteering on a kibbutz after visiting Israel shortly after the Six-Day War in 1967.

The incident comes amid wider concern within Britain’s Jewish community about rising antisemitism and increasingly hostile confrontations linked to views on Zionism and Israel.

Jewish News has contacted Dame Helen Mirren’s representatives for comment.