Convicted arts patron Sir James Wallace asked for letters of support ahead of his sentencing.
Some of New Zealand’s biggest names in film, art and classical music wrote letters ahead of disgraced patron Sir James Wallace’s sentencing - many asking for leniency from the judge for his decades of philanthropy.
Named last week as the prominent businessman who assaulted three men and twice tried to pervert the course of justice, Wallace had ahead of his May 2021 sentencing twice emailed more than 100 people and organisations asking for letters of support to present to the judge. In the follow-up email, which the Herald has seen, he does not disclose the nature of the charges but says he is innocent and states: “we will win the appeal”.
“I would doubt I would survive any period in prison. In these circumstances, innocent people can and do rot in jail only to be cleared some time later. Such is the law,” the former rich lister said.
Wallace wrote to his friends and industry leaders while fighting the Herald and other media for six years to keep his identity hidden.
In all, 89 letters were written by actors, writers, artists, musicians, academics and political figures to High Court Justice Geoffrey Venning in April and May 2021.
The judge said “the letters of support were an important consideration in the sentence ultimately imposed” when he granted the Herald access to publish them. He explained they allowed a 30 per cent reduction to Wallace’s eventual two-year and four-month prison term, which he is now serving.
Those who submitted their thoughts included Grammy-winning opera star Simon O’Neill, who said: “I write this letter in full support of Sir James Wallace. Sir James has been a friend of mine for over 20 years and is a gentleman of honest character.
“Sir James, alone, is the Prince Esterhazy of the New Zealand classical performing arts scene. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven were all very lucky to have such a generous patron.
“I would be grateful if you would consider the decades of incredible generosity and friendship and support that Sir James has offered New Zealand artists, me in particular.”
O’Neill, appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM), told the Herald from Madrid: “I must immediately express my sympathy for the victims of the crimes for which James Wallace has been convicted. They have acted with courage to report these criminal acts and to pursue the long court process through to completion.”
He said Wallace asked him to provide a letter for use during his sentencing on charges “which his request did not reveal”.
“He said he was concerned that he would be imprisoned, and the impact that this would have on his health and mental wellbeing. My letter was offered for the sentencing judge’s consideration, if helpful, in the sentencing process. This was not to diminish in any way the impact that the victims of the crimes experienced.”
Award-winning actress Rena Owen, who has had roles in Once Were Warriors, Whina, and in the Star Wars series, said in her April 23, 2021 letter she had known Wallace since the early 1990s.
“I am one of the many New Zealand talents he has generously supported whether that was investing in NZ films, supporting live theatre, opening his home to host industry gatherings, or providing accommodation when needed, and Sir James never expected anything in return,” Owen wrote.
“To me he is an old-school gentleman and a beloved kaumatua, a revered elder.”
When contacted by the Herald this week, Owen declined to comment about her letter and referred any requests to her agency, which did not respond before this story’s publication.
Hollywood director and artist Vincent Ward, who worked alongside Robin Williams in the movie What Dreams May Come, said he met Wallace at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ward, who has also been appointed an ONZM for services to film, said Wallace had asked him for support.
The River Queen director wrote in his letter: “How could anyone refuse someone of such unimpeachable repute? In the cultural desert that is NZ I ask myself how can any practitioner survive?”
He said he knew of “only the rumour of the accusation(s) held against him, which seem to me completely preposterous”.
Ward, an executive producer on the Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai, did not reply to the Herald’s request for comment.
Novelist and scriptwriter Elspeth Sandys, an ONZM for services to literature, said she met Wallace at university and had worked with him in the film industry. She described him as a loyal friend.
“James is sensitive, generous, thoughtful, concerned about social justice as well as about the difficulties faced by artists struggling to make a living. He is also the best company!” Sandys wrote to the judge.
“I have not followed his trial, being unable to believe the things that were being said about him. James Wallace is a man I trust and love. Nothing will change that.”
When contacted by the Herald, Sandys said she stood by the contents of her letter.
Sir Bob Harvey, the former Mayor of Waitakere City and ex-president of the Labour Party, told the court in his letter he had noticed a decline in Wallace’s health and asked the judge to “take into consideration his age and wellbeing both physically and mentally”.
Harvey told the Herald he had known Wallace since 1958 and served on the board of the NZ Film Commission (NZFC) with him but had little else to add. “End of story,” he said.
Philanthropist and art collector Dame Jenny Gibbs said she had known Wallace for 40 or more years and had witnessed “unending kindness and generosity from him”.
“The city and all in the culture fields would be poorer without him. I would hope that his poor health in recent years would be considered,” she said. Gibbs did not reply to the Herald’s request for comment.
Concert pianist Michael Houstoun said in his letter he had known Wallace for “many years as a friend and a colleague”.
“I have played several times at his [Epsom mansion], Rannoch, always to raise funds for a worthy cause,” he wrote.
“James knows that I am at his service should he wish to continue raising funds for worthy causes at Rannoch.”
Houstoun, a CNZM, did not reply to the Herald’s request for comment.
A joint letter was also written on behalf of the board of Bach Musica NZ by music and artistic director Rita Paczian and chairman Peter Rowe outlining the philanthropy received from then-patron Wallace.
“There is no change to that information except that Sir James has ceased to be our patron. We do not wish to make any further comment,” Rowe told the Herald.
Auckland Youth Orchestra chairman Alexander Cowdell asked the judge to take into account Wallace’s contributions to society and said his support had been significant and “invaluable to us”. Cowdell did not respond to a request for comment.
Massey University’s Professor of Māori visual arts Robert Jahnke, who was appointed an ONZM and a winner of the 2019 Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award, said in his letter Wallace “is an exceptionally well-mannered gentleman whose generosity knows no bounds”.
“His impact on the art world in Aotearoa New Zealand is immeasurable and I hope that justice will prevail.”
Jahnke said “no comment” when approached by the Herald about his letter.
William Somerville, who founded the public art gallery Artspace and served three terms as a member of the NZFC, said he had worked with and known Wallace since the 1970s.
“I have always been a strong supporter of James recognising his generous, independent and open-minded support of the visual arts,” the retired PWC partner wrote to the judge.
Somerville told the Herald he wrote the letter not with any view on if Wallace was innocent or guilty but from a philosophical point of view and as a normal process in the sentencing procedure.
He said “everyone is a mixture of good and bad” and Wallace “did a lot of good”.
“The good should not be tainted by the bad nor the bad tainted by the good”.
A joint letter by artists Lee and Philip Trusttum spoke of Wallace’s support for Kiwi artists and events at his Epsom mansion, including an awards night dinner “around his magnificent dining table” that Prime Minister Helen Clark attended.
“What a sad business,” the Trusttums told the Herald during the week.
“We do stand by our letter to the court, although I find the last two paragraphs awkward.”
The last paragraphs of the letter refer to staying at Rannoch, Wallace as a “great host” and the pair’s wholehearted support of him.
“Our only added comment would have to be, the NZ art world without James’ patronage will be the poorer.”
Lee also wrote in a letter to the Herald, quoting Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “‘The evil that men do lives on - the good is oft interred with their bones’. Seems appropriate for James.”
The Prime Minister’s office has begun the process of stripping Wallace of his knighthood, while many of New Zealand’s leading institutions have distanced themselves from him.
After first being charged by police in early 2017, Wallace was found guilty of assaulting three men in the early 2000s, 2008 and 2016 at Rannoch.
Wallace has always vehemently denied the allegations against him and claimed to be the victim of blackmail and the #MeToo campaign. His appeals, which have included bids to the Supreme Court, have all been dismissed.
Wallace’s business manager and entertainer Mika X, who appeared in the Oscar-winning film The Piano, were also charged with attempting to dissuade the 2016 victim from giving evidence.
Mika pleaded guilty and the manager was found guilty alongside Wallace in 2021. Both were sentenced to home detention.
Sam Hurley is a news director and senior reporter. He joined the Herald in 2017 and has previously worked for 1News and Hawke’s Bay Today. He has been investigating Sir James Wallace since 2018.
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