Dylan Farrow Pens Open Letter: Woody Allen "Sexually Assaulted Me" at Age 7
2/1/14
by THR Staff


Dylan Farrow, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, has written a first person account published in The New York Times that details her allegation that she was sexually assaulted by the film director at age 7.

"When I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me," Farrow wrote in an open letter posted on Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's blog.

In an editors note at the top of the Times blog post, Kristof wrote that the letter was "the first time that Dylan Farrow herself has written about it in public." The renewed accusations surface as Allen's Blue Jasmine is nominated for three Academy Awards, including best original screenplay for the director.





Farrow also wrote that Hollywood figures have turned a "blind eye" to the accusations and specifically asked Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett and Louis C.K. -- who appear in Blue Jasmine -- "What if it had been your child?"

"Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up," she wrote, adding: "That torment was made worse by Hollywood. All but a precious few (my heroes) turned a blind eye. Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, 'who can say what happened,' to pretend that nothing was wrong. Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines."

Farrow wrote: "Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse."





The director's reps have not yet responded to THR's request for comment.

Cate Blanchett, who stars in Allen’s Blue Jasmine, said, “It’s obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some resolution and peace.”

Blanchett was asked to comment on the latest development in the long running case by Jeffrey Wells, who runs the website Hollywood-elsewhere.com. Blanchett made the brief remarks as she was ushered into the party.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dylan-farrow-pens-open-letter-676338

My thoughts:

I think Mia Farrow is a hypocrite. She slams Woody Allen, yet at the same time, she proudly supports Roman Polanski, who she has been a strong supporter of since 1977. She remains friends with Polanski to this day, and even now, she believes Polanski could not have raped and sodomized that 13-year-old girl.

Blue Jasmine Distributor Says Woody Allen "Deserves Our Presumption of Innocence"
by Kimberly Nordyke
2/2/2014


Sony Pictures Classics has released a statement following on the heels of new sex abuse claims made against Woody Allen by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.

Dylan Farrow, the adopted daughter of Allen and Mia Farrow, wrote a first-person account published in the New York Times on Saturday that detailed her allegations against the Blue Jasmine writer-director.





SPC, which is Allen's longtime U.S. distributor and has released his last several movies including the Oscar best picture nominee Midnight in Paris and the Oscar-nominated Blue Jasmine, said Sunday in a statement:

"We have had a long, productive and rewarding relationship with Mr. Allen. This is a very complicated situation and a tragedy for everyone involved. Mr. Allen has never been charged in relationship to any of this, and therefore deserves our presumption of innocence.

Films are major efforts of collaboration. There are scores of artists and crafts people behind Blue Jasmine. We support and celebrate their extraordinary work here, and count Blue Jasmine as a major achievement of Mr. Allen's career."





The statement came shortly after Allen released his own statement:

"Mr. Allen has read the article and found it untrue and disgraceful. He will be responding very soon," his rep told The Hollywood Reporter.





Allen and Mia Farrow split up as a couple in 1992, when the accusations of abuse surfaced. The director married Soon-Yi Previn, also an adopted daughter of Farrow, in 1997.

Despite the allegations, Allen's career has thrived. His recently directed films include the Oscar-winning Midnight in Paris (2011), To Rome With Love (2012) and last year's critically acclaimed Blue Jasmine.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/woody-allen-sex-abuse-claim-676372

Woody Allen's Lawyer: Dylan Molestation Charge "Implanted" by Mia Farrow
2/4/14
by Hilary Lewis


Woody Allen's attorney insisted that Mia Farrow is to blame for Dylan Farrow's renewed accusations of the director sexually assaulting her, which were made in an open letter published on the New York Times website over the weekend.

"Dylan was a pawn in a huge fight between Allen and Mia Farrow years ago, and the idea that she was molested was implanted in her by her mother," Elkin Abramowitz said in an exclusive interview on NBC's "Today". "And that memory is never going to go away, so the fact that she says this now, that it happened 20 years ago, is totally understandable."

Abramowitz added that Allen's reaction to Dylan's letter is "one of overwhelming sadness because of what has happened to Dylan."





Although a custody case determined that Allen's behavior was "grossly inappropriate," denying his visitation rights to Dylan, and that there wasn't credible evidence Mia coached Dylan, a Connecticut police investigation determined that the molestation never took place and that Dylan was coached by her mother, which Abramowitz detailed in his interview.

Abramowitz insisted that that outcome renders Dylan's accusations moot.

"He was determined not to have molested his daughter 20 years ago," Abramowitz said. "The case is over. There is no case."





Abramowitz did suggest that the timing of the allegations is suspect, and when asked why he believes they're resurfacing now, he said he believed Mia wants to hurt Allen as he receives acclaim and awards nominations for his latest film, Blue Jasmine. He also recently received the Golden Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award.

"I think it's a continuation of Mia Farrow's desire to hurt Woody Allen," Abramowitz said. "Woody Allen is now riding high…and I believe it revived the anger she has toward him."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/woody-allens-lawyer-dylan-molestation-676913

Dylan Farrow's Brother Defends Woody Allen: He Did Not Molest My Sister
Feb 5, 2014
by Sadie Gennis


Moses Farrow is standing by his adoptive father Woody Allen amid allegations that the filmmaker sexually abused his sister Dylan.

In response to Dylan's open letter, in which she describes her adoptive father molesting her when she was 7, Moses says their mother Mia Farrow is to blame for turning Dylan against Allen.

"My mother drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the family and sexually molesting my sister," Moses told People. "And I hated him for her for years. I see now that this was a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi."





Charges of sexual abuse were first brought against Allen in 1992 in the middle of the former couple's custody battle over Moses, Dylan and their son Ronan Farrow after Mia discovered Allen had begun an affair with her adopted daughter Soon-Yi. Authorities investigated and Allen was never charged.

"Of course Woody did not molest my sister," Moses, 36, said. "She loved him and looked forward to seeing him when he would visit. She never hid from him until our mother succeeded in creating the atmosphere of fear and hate towards him.

The day in question, there were six or seven of us in the house. We were all in public rooms and no one, not my father or sister, was off in any private spaces. My mother was conveniently out shopping. I don't know if my sister really believes she was molested or is trying to please her mother. Pleasing my mother was very powerful motivation because to be on her wrong side was horrible."





Dylan Farrow has responded to her brother's comments calling them "a betrayal."

"This is such a betrayal to me and my whole family. My memories are the truth and they are mine and I will live with that for the rest of my life. My mother never coached me. She never planted false memories in my brain. My memories are mine. I remember them. She was distraught when I told her.

When I came forward with my story she was hoping against hope that I had made it up. In one of the most heartbreaking conversations I have ever had, she sat me down and asked me if I was telling the truth. She said that Dad said he didn't do anything. and I said, 'He's lying.'"





Moses, however, paints a very different picture of Mia, accusing her of being an abusive mother.

"Our mother has misled the public into believing it was a happy household of both biological and adopted children," he said. "From an early age, my mother demanded obedience and I was often hit as a child. She went into unbridled rages if we angered her, which was intimidating at the very least and often horrifying, leaving us not knowing what she would do."



Dylan also responded to Moses' abuse allegations:

"I don't know where he gets this about getting beaten. We were sent to our rooms sometimes. I will not see my family dragged down like this. I can't stay silent when my family needs me and I will not abandon them like Soon-Yi and Moses.

My brother is dead to me. My mother is so grave and so courageous and taught me what it means to be strong and brave and tell the truth even in the face of these monstrous lies."





Moses, who is estranged from Mia, Dylan and many of his other siblings, says his sister is missing out on a relationship with her father.

"I think my sister is missing a great deal in life not reconnecting with her father, who had always adored her," he said. "It's important that she assert her independence from our mother and not go through life with the false impression that she has been molested by my father. I am very happy I have come into my own power, separating from my mother, which has led to a positive reunion with my father."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Dylan-Farrow-Brother-Moses-Defends-Woody-Allen-1077308.aspx

Woody Allen Slams Mia Farrow's "Shabby Agenda": "To Hurt Me with a Smear … Smells A Lot More Like Mia than Dylan"
2/7/14
by THR Staff


Woody Allen has penned a response to Dylan Farrow's allegations that he sexually assaulted her when she was a child.

In his response, published Friday in The New York Times, Allen denied abusing Farrow, his adopted daughter with Mia Farrow. He also alleged Mia Farrow coached their daughter into accusing him of the abuse, which Dylan Farrow says happened when she was seven.

"Not that I doubt Dylan hasn’t come to believe she’s been molested, but if from the age of 7 a vulnerable child is taught by a strong mother to hate her father because he is a monster who abused her, is it so inconceivable that after many years of this indoctrination the image of me Mia wanted to establish had taken root?" Allen wrote.





He went on to question if Dylan Farrow actually penned the open letter, published last week on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's blog.

"One must ask, did Dylan even write the letter or was it at least guided by her mother? Does the letter really benefit Dylan or does it simply advance her mother’s shabby agenda? That is to hurt me with a smear. There is even a lame attempt to do professional damage by trying to involve movie stars, which smells a lot more like Mia than Dylan," he wrote.





Allen also addressed Mia Farrow's comments last year that their son, Ronan Farrow, could actually be Frank Sinatra's biological offspring.

"Granted, he looks a lot like Frank with the blue eyes and facial features, but if so what does this say? That all during the custody hearing Mia lied under oath and falsely represented Ronan as our son?," Allen asked.

"Even if he is not Frank’s, the possibility she raises that he could be, indicates she was secretly intimate with him during our years. Not to mention all the money I paid for child support. Was I supporting Frank’s son?"





Allen closed by saying he hopes he can one day repair his relationship with Dylan Farrow.

"Of course, I did not molest Dylan. I loved her and hope one day she will grasp how she has been cheated out of having a loving father and exploited by a mother more interested in her own festering anger than her daughter’s well-being," Allen wrote.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/woody-allen-slams-mia-farrows-678545

Dylan Farrow Responds to Woody Allen: "I Won't Be Silenced"
Feb 8, 2014
by Sadie Gennis


Dylan Farrow has responded to Woody Allen's "final word" on the sex abuse allegations she first leveled against her father more than 20 years ago.

"Once again, Woody Allen is attacking me and my family in an effort to discredit and silence me — but nothing he says or writes can change the truth," Dylan wrote in a statement obtained by People.

Though Allen claims that Dylan's story was inconsistent and that her mother Mia Farrow had coached her, Dylan writes: "For 20 years, I have never wavered in describing what he did to me. I will carry the memories of surviving these experiences for the rest of my life."





Allen devoted the majority of his op-ed to attacking Mia, even bringing up the unrelated questions surrounding Ronan Farrow's parentage. He also questioned the "necessity" and "benefit" of Dylan speaking out, implying the letter was coerced to "simply advance her mother's shabby agenda."

"His op-ed is the latest rehash of the same legalese, distortions and outright lies he has leveled at me for the past 20 years," Dylan's statement concluded. "I hope this is the end of his vicious attacks and of the media campaign by his lawyers and publicists, as he's promised. I won't let the truth be buried and I won't be silenced."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Dylan-Farrow-Woody-Allen-Response-1077458.aspx

Scarlett Johansson Weighs in on Woody Allen Sex Assault Scandal: "It's All Guesswork"
3/17/14
by Hilary Lewis


Scarlett Johansson has made three movies with Woody Allen and was one of the stars named by Allen's daughter Dylan Farrow in the open letter, published on The New York Times' website, in which she detailed how Allen molested her.

"What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett?" Farrow wrote. "Louis CK? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?"





But Johansson didn't seem to appreciate being included in the controversy that way.

"I think it's irresponsible to take a bunch of actors that will have a Google alert on and to suddenly throw their name into a situation that none of us could possibly knowingly comment on," the actress said in an interview with The Guardian. "That just feels irresponsible to me."





As for her feelings on the scandal itself, Johansson seemed reluctant to weigh in, pointing out that no one, apart from Allen and Farrow, really knows what happened.

"I think he'll continue to know what he knows about the situation, and I'm sure the other people involved have their own experience with it," she said. "It's not like this is somebody that's been prosecuted and found guilty of something, and you can then go, 'I don't support this lifestyle or whatever.' I mean, it's all guesswork … I don't know anything about it. It would be ridiculous for me to make any kind of assumption one way or the other."


Johansson also said that she was unaware of any backlash against Allen.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/scarlett-johansson-weighs-woody-allen-688979

Dylan Farrow on Woody Allen: "Why Shouldn't I Feel Some Sort of Outrage?"
by Nick Romano
January 17, 2018


CBS released the first clip from Dylan Farrow’s interview with "CBS This Morning‘s" Gayle King, during which they discussed Farrow’s allegations against her adopted father, Woody Allen. Farrow accused the film director of molesting her when she was a child in 1992, a claim he has long denied.

This marks Farrow’s first television interview to discuss the allegations against Allen.





“Someone said this to me, ‘She wants to bring Woody Allen down. She’s caught up in the Me Too, Time’s Up movement and this is really what she’s trying to do, is bring him down,'” King tells Farrow in the clip.

“Why shouldn’t I want to bring him down?” she responds. “Why shouldn’t I be angry? Why shouldn’t I be hurt? Why shouldn’t I feel some sort of outrage that after all these years being ignored and disbelieved and tossed aside?”





Reps for Allen tell EW a statement will be released Thursday. Previously, and at the time meant as his “final word on this entire matter,” Allen wrote in a 2014 piece in The New York Times, “Of course, I did not molest Dylan.”

Following the publication of Farrow’s op-ed, a spokesperson for Allen said in a statement, “Dylan Farrow’s allegations against Woody Allen, which she first made 25 years ago, have been thoroughly examined by law enforcement officials and child welfare investigators. The investigators concluded unambiguously that Dylan Farrow was not sexually abused. No charges were ever filed, and the reason is simple: because Woody Allen is innocent.”





When King asked Farrow why people should believe her now, she replied, “I suppose that’s on them, but all I can do is speak my truth and hope… hope that somebody will believe me instead of just hearing.”

http://ew.com/tv/2018/01/17/dylan-farrow-woody-allen-interview-outrage/

Woody Allen Responds to Dylan Farrow's Claims: "I Never Molested My Daughter"
by Nick Romano
Jan. 27, 2018


Woody Allen, writing in The New York Times in 2014, denied longstanding claims that he molested his daughter, Dylan Farrow, when she was a girl in 1992. That piece was meant as his “final word on this entire matter.”

But in light of Farrow’s first television interview with "CBS This Morning" about her accusations, the filmmaker addressed the situation again in a lengthy statement.





“When this claim was first made more than 25 years ago, it was thoroughly investigated by both the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare,” read the statement, which was released on Thursday when Farrow’s full interview aired.

“They both did so for many months and independently concluded that no molestation had ever taken place. Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup.”



“Dylan’s older brother Moses has said that he witnessed their mother doing exactly that – relentlessly coaching Dylan, trying to drum into her that her father was a dangerous sexual predator,” Allen continues.

“It seems to have worked – and, sadly, I’m sure Dylan truly believes what she says. But even though the Farrow family is cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time’s Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation, that doesn’t make it any more true today than it was in the past. I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago.”





Frank Maco, a former prosecutor for the state of Connecticut, told "CBS This Morning" there was “no manipulation by Mia Farrow” and “nothing in the state police investigation indicated Dylan was controlled or manipulated by her mother.”

Farrow also said in 2014, “My memories are mine. I remember them. [Mia] was distraught when I told her. When I came forward with my story she was hoping against hope that I had made it up. In one of the most heartbreaking conversations I have ever had, she sat me down and asked me if I was telling the truth. She said that Dad said he didn’t do anything. And I said, ‘He’s lying.'”





Moses, Farrow’s brother, defended his father in Eric Lax’s book, Start to Finish: Woody Allen and the Art of Moviemaking. “Now that I no longer live in fear of her rejection, I am free to share how Mia cultivated and brainwashed me,” he said.

The report from the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Allen cites was also mentioned in his NY Times piece from four years ago. It read in part, “It is our expert opinion that Dylan was not sexually abused by Mr. Allen. Further, we believe that Dylan’s statements on videotape and her statements to us during our evaluation do not refer to actual events that occurred to her on August 4th, 1992,” the date Farrow Allen molested her.

A child psychologist testifying on behalf of Mia in her custody trial with Allen in 1993 argued the report was “seriously flawed,” and the judge (as reported by The Times) ultimately determined, “I am less certain, however, than is the Yale-New Haven team, that the evidence proves conclusively that there was no sexual abuse.”





Allen has long denied these accusations and was never charged with a crime. However, in light of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and other men in Hollywood, Farrow penned an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times that called out actors who’ve worked with Allen and not denounced him over her claims.

“We’ve gotten very attached to this concept that in order for a victim or accuser to come forward credibly that they have to be flanked by 49 other people. This is absolute garbage,” she now tells Gayle King on "CBS This Morning".

“It shouldn’t have to be that a small army has to come forward against one person to be credible. I have come forward with evidence and I am credible and I am telling the truth and I think it’s important that people realize that one victim, one accuser, matters, and that they are enough to change things.”

http://ew.com/movies/2018/01/18/woody-allen-dylan-farrow-statement-cbs-this-morning/