Roald Dahl's family apologizes for his anti-Semitic remarks 30 years after his death

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The family of beloved author Roald Dahl issued an apology 30 years after his death for anti-Semitic statements he made. 

Dahl was the mind behind several renowned children’s books that would go on to become hit movies such as “Matilda,” “James and the Giant Peach” and, of course, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” However, he’s been criticized in recent years for holding anti-Semitic beliefs that he vocalized. 

“The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologise for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by some of Roald Dahl’s statements,” the family's brief statement reads. “Those prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us and stand in marked contrast to the man we knew and to the values at the heart of Roald Dahl's stories, which have positively impacted young people for generations.”

It concludes: “We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his absolute worst, Roald Dahl can help remind us of the lasting impact of words."

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According to Yahoo Entertainment, Dahl reportedly told Britain’s New Statesman in 1983 that Jewish people were inherently poised to elicit animosity from non-Jewish people.

“There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean there is always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason,” he reportedly said. 

Author Roald Dahl's family apologized for his anti-Semitic remarks. (Ronald Dumont/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Dahl admitted to being anti-Semitic during an interview from the year he died, 1990. 

“I’m certainly anti-Israeli and I’ve become antisemitic in as much as that you get a Jewish person in another country like England strongly supporting Zionism. I think they should see both sides. It’s the same old thing: we all know about Jews and the rest of it. There aren’t any non-Jewish publishers anywhere, they control the media – jolly clever thing to do – that’s why the president of the United States has to sell all this stuff to Israel … ”

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Statements like that have marred Dahl’s legacy in recent years as many feel it's necessary to bring up in order to paint the author and his stories in full context. 

Several Jewish advocacy groups commented on the apology with many noting that it came decades after the author’s death and was somewhat buried on the website. 

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The admission that the famous author’s antisemitic views are ‘incomprehensible’ is right. For his family and estate to have waited thirty years to make an apology, apparently until lucrative deals were signed with Hollywood, is disappointing and sadly rather more comprehensible.”

In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Netflix reportedly paid $1 billion for the rights to Dahl’s stories.

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Meanwhile, the Board of Deputies of British Jews noted that the apology came far too late to have a true impact. 

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“This apology should have happened long ago - and it is of concern that it has happened so quietly now. Roald Dahl’s abhorrent antisemitic prejudices were no secret and have tarnished his legacy,” the statement reads. “The apology should be restated on the questionable Roald Dahl Day on 13 September. As well as recognising his undeniable impact on children’s literature, teaching of Dahl’s books should also be used as an opportunity for young people to learn about his intolerant views.”