Natalie Dormer Withdraws Promotion, Pledges Salary

Natalie Dormer said she will not participate in promotion for ITV/BritBox’s four-part drama The Lady after leaked 2011 emails surfaced showing Sarah Ferguson appearing to praise Jeffrey Epstein. Dormer told Variety the emails made it impossible to reconcile her values with Ferguson’s behavior and pledged to donate her entire salary from the series to the National Association for People Abused in Childhood and the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse. The leaked note reportedly calls Epstein a “steadfast/generous and supreme friend” and appears to contradict Ferguson’s earlier public distancing from him. A spokesperson for the Duchess of York said the email was sent to counter an alleged threat that Epstein would sue for defamation and reiterated Ferguson’s regret about the association. The Lady, produced by Left Bank Pictures, is a four-part dramatization of former royal dresser Jane Andrews’s rise and fall; Dormer said her decision to step back is not a reflection on the production team.