{"id":393781,"date":"2026-04-11T21:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/393781\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T21:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:01:09","slug":"audrey-hepburns-son-says-late-actress-would-be-crushed-by-todays-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/393781\/","title":{"rendered":"Audrey Hepburn’s Son Says Late Actress Would Be ‘Crushed’ by Today’s World"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

Sean Hepburn Ferrer says his mother, Audrey Hepburn, would be deeply saddened by the state of the world today<\/p>\n

Drawing on her work with UNICEF, he pointed to ongoing conflict, inequality and humanitarian crises as issues she cared deeply about<\/p>\n

Ferrer also emphasized that her lifelong focus remained on protecting women and children and prioritizing compassion<\/p>\n

Long before her legacy as a humanitarian took center stage, Audrey Hepburn<\/a> was celebrated as one of Hollywood\u2019s most beloved icons.<\/p>\n

Yet in the later chapters of her life, she deliberately stepped away from film to devote her energy to helping others. Her work with UNICEF became not just a passion, but a defining mission. Decades after her passing, her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer<\/a> continues to reflect on how deeply that work shaped his mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe always talked about her UNICEF years as her second and most important career. I think all of it was very meaningful to her in the sense that she really took it seriously,\u201d Ferrer told Woman\u2019s World<\/a> in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wasn\u2019t just a celebrity that showed up and was given a memo. She really studied, took it seriously and prepared for her role as an ambassador the same way she prepared for her roles in film,” he added.<\/p>\n

\"Audrey<\/p>\n

Audrey Hepburn with local women on her first field mission for UNICEF in Ethiopia (1988).
Credit: Derek Hudson\/Getty<\/p>\n

The Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s actress<\/a> served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador from 1988 until 1993<\/a>, traveling extensively to regions across Africa, South America and Asia to advocate for children in crisis.<\/p>\n

According to her son, this work was not symbolic, but deeply personal. \u201cOnce you\u2019ve taken care of your family, you can step back, look at people around you and then ultimately do something good for society,\u201d Ferrer explained, emphasizing the philosophy that guided her later years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her experiences in the field left a lasting impression. Ferrer recalled how his mother described visiting war-torn communities, noting, \u201cshe always used to say when she went to Vietnam, you would go to a village, and there was the outline of the school that had been bombed out. But when there\u2019s an outline, you can rebuild. There\u2019s a soul there that you have to put back into the life of the village.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, some places proved even more devastating. \u201cWhat was very, very hard for her was places like Somalia and Sudan \u2014 there was nothing there to rebuild, so you have to start from scratch,\u201d Ferrer told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n

\"Audrey<\/p>\n

Audrey Hepburn.
Credit: Roger Allen\/Daily Mirror\/Mirrorpix via Getty<\/p>\n

Reflecting on today\u2019s global challenges, Ferrer believes his mother would be deeply troubled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019d be crushed,\u201d he said, pointing to ongoing humanitarian crises and emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, that could be misused.<\/p>\n

Echoing his mother\u2019s long-held beliefs, Ferrer added that society has lost sight of what truly matters, recalling how Hepburn often stressed that \u201cwe study war, but we never study peace,\u201d and believed women and children should remain at the center of global priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a ship is sinking, it\u2019s women and children first,” Ferrer told Woman’s World. “Well, the ship is sinking, people. We seem to have forgotten that saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Sean Hepburn Ferrer says his mother, Audrey Hepburn, would be deeply saddened by the state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[56632,321,93,61,60,174369,36868,174370],"class_list":{"0":"post-393781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-audrey-hepburn","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-sean-hepburn-ferrer","14":"tag-unicef","15":"tag-unicef-goodwill-ambassador"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}