Dormer declines The Lady promotion, donates salary to child charities

Natalie Dormer said she will not take part in promotion for the upcoming ITV and BritBox drama The Lady and has donated her entire salary from the project to child-abuse charities after revelations about the real-life figure she portrays, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. The decision was announced this week after the publication of a leaked 2011 email in which Ferguson appears to apologize to the late convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein and refers to him in effusive terms.

Dormer, who plays Ferguson in the four-part, partly fictionalized series, said in a statement that new information had made it impossible for her to reconcile her values with what she described as Ferguson's inexcusable behavior. When I agreed to take the role in The Lady, I knew portraying the scripts Sarah Ferguson would require nuance, she said. People are layered, their journeys are full of highs and lows, and as an actor, my job is to lean into those elements and bring them to life with honesty and empathy. For that reason, I will not be taking part in the promotion of the project.

The actress added that, in keeping with her commitment to the wellbeing of children, she had donated her full salary from...