James Bond author Anthony Horowitz denies 007 is 'sexist'

‘I am perfectly happy to defend James Bond’: Anthony Horowitz denies 007 is ‘sexist’ and insists he is simply a ‘man of the 50s and 60s’ who ‘treats women very well in the books’

• Horowitz, 67, has written three James Bond novels, the most recent in May 2022
• Millennials watching 007’s early films taken issue with ‘inappropriate’ content
• But author refutes the suggestion Bond is ‘chauvinistic or sexist or misogynistic’ 

Anthony Horowitz has said he is ‘perfectly happy to defend Bond’ and says that the fictional character is ‘a man of the 50s and 60s’ who lives by a ‘different moral code to the one we have now’.

British author Horowitz, 67, who is creator of fictional teenage spy Alex Rider, has written three James Bond novels – the most recent of which was published in May this year.

Author Anthony Horowitz (pictured) has said he is ‘perfectly happy to defend Bond’

But the author, who was made a CBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours list where he was recognised for services to literature, said the latest title, With A Mind To Kill, will be his last one for the franchise.

He said: ‘When I’m writing the books I always hear Sean Connery and see Daniel Craig. I am perfectly happy to defend Bond. He’s a man of the 50s and 60s, so he lives by a different moral code to the one we have now.

‘I refute the suggestion that he is chauvinistic or sexist or misogynistic.

‘I think he treats women very well in the books and has great respect for them, yet I admit he has some of the attitudes that we now would not celebrate in the 21st century, but that’s because the books were written in the 20th century. It was a different time.’

James Bond is part of British cinematic history, with 26 films spanning the past 56 years – but some viewers watching 007’s early outings for the first time have taken issue with the movies’ ‘inappropriate’ content.  

Some viewers too young to witness past Bonds like Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton – and even Pierce Brosnan – in action at the cinema have previously expressed their shock at the ‘sexist’ and ‘racist’ contents of the films in a modern context. 

The older Bond movies may have stood the test of time in the eyes of true devotees of Ian Fleming’s hero – but those people coming to the franchise with fresh eyes say the spy’s sexually aggressive actions are unacceptable.   

James Bond is part of British cinematic history, with 26 films spanning the past 56 years – but some viewers watching 007’s early outings for the first time are taking issue with the movies’ ‘inappropriate’ content. Daniel Craig pictured with Eva Green in Casino Royale, 2006

In particular, Sean Connery’s James Bond – the Scottish actor took the title role in seven Bond flicks between 1962 and 1983 – has been described variously as a ‘sexist wife beater’, a ‘scumbag’, and a ‘rapist’ by modern viewers. 

Actor Craig, 54, delivered his final performance as the British Secret Service agent in No Time To Die last year, with his successor not yet named.

Horowitz was commissioned by the estate of 007 creator Ian Fleming to produce a number of James Bond novels. 

His first, Trigger Mortis, was released in 2015 and following its success he was asked to produce another, a prequel to Casino Royale called Forever And A Day in 2018, which was followed by this year’s May publication of With A Mind To Kill.

‘I’ve finished with Bond now. I’ve done three: Trigger Mortis, which was middle career; Forever And A Day was start career, and the new one, With A Mind To Kill, is end career, so I feel that’s a very nice book-ended trilogy,’ he said.

The author is also well known for his young adult fiction and has written for film, television and stage during a career spanning decades.

One of his most successful works is the 12-part Alex Rider novel series, featuring the eponymous teenager who is unwittingly dragged into the world of international espionage.

The older Bond movies may have stood the test of time in the eyes of true devotees of Ian Fleming’s hero – but those people coming to the franchise with fresh eyes say the spy’s sexually aggressive actions are unacceptable. Pictured, Sean Connery and Kim Basinger in ‘Never Say Never Again’, 1983

The series’ first novel Stormbreaker was adapted into a film in 2006, starring Alex Pettyfer, and an Amazon Prime Video special aired in 2020.

He is currently promoting his 56th book, The Twist Of A Knife (published by Century), a locked room mystery and fourth in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, in which Horowitz appears as himself, accused of murdering a theatre critic who gives his new play, Mindgames (which was actually a play that he wrote), a bad review.

His extensive list of credits also includes being commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate to pen two Sherlock Holmes novels, The House Of Silk and sequel Moriarty, which were published in 2011 and 2014 respectively.

He is also responsible for creating and writing several well-known British television series including Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders. Horowitz is heartened that the books he wrote 35 years ago are still in print, so feels that had there been any offensive content in them, somebody would have told him.

He said: ‘There are very few things I regret – maybe odd things like making fun of vegetarians, which I did 30-something years ago. Now I barely eat meat myself. 

Your attitudes do change, but because I’ve always focused on entertaining people rather than trying to upset them, there’s nothing in my books I regret.’

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