One of the things I cannot understand is why people – mostly men, mostly older – have decided to become evangelists for actor and director Woody Allen. Famous for producing artistic movies like “Annie Hall” and “Midnight in Paris,” Allen has been lauded for his ostensibly original, ostensibly talented movies.

 

To be frank: I don’t care about Allen’s movies. Here’s why.

 

In 2014, the New York Times published an open letter by Allen’s daughter, Dylan Farrow. In the letter, Farrow detailed her sexual assault by Allen. This assault has been an open story for decades; at the time, Farrow was seven years old.

 

In the face of Time’s Up, she tweeted her disappointment that Allen is apparently an exception to Time’s Up for so many in Hollywood. Farrow wrote, “No predator should be spared by virtue of their ‘talent’ or ‘creativity’ or ‘genius.’”

 

On Feb. 9, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens published a defense of Woody Allen alleging that Farrow is at best delusional and at worst lying. According to Jezebel, Farrow responded by tweeting, “To presume I invented this story & convinced myself of it is no less insulting than calling me a liar. I’ve consistently stated the truth for 25 years, I won’t stop now. It’s Stephens’ right to doubt me if he so chooses but his incredulity doesn’t change what happened that day.”  

 

There is a breadth of evidence that Allen molested Farrow. Jezebel reported that Farrow’s babysitters and tutor witnessed inappropriate behavior, a Connecticut state attorney said at that time he had probable cause to try Allen, and a judge awarded custody to Farrow’s mother, Mia Farrow, because of the danger Allen posed.

 

Stephens also glossed over Allen’s marriage to his stepdaughter. As reported by PageSix, Allen married stepdaughter Soon-Yi Previn in 1997. They allegedly began a relationship in the late 1980s. It’s odd that people continually, perpetually try to overwrite Allen’s history of being inappropriate with young women and girls when there is a literal marriage certificate as evidence.

 

That’s not even where the evidence of Allen’s inappropriate attractions ends. Recently, the Washington Post reported on Allen’s private notes. Inside were reams of creepy notes describing the attractiveness of teenage girls, such as a 16-year-old character who is described as “a flashy sexy blonde in a flaming red low cut evening gown with a long slit up the side.”

 

Allen molested his daughter, married his stepdaughter, and has an extensive history of creepiness toward underage girls. Yet Hollywood still forgives him.

 

Actors like Justin Timberlake and Kate Winslet, who still support Allen, want to support Time’s Up, but only when it’s convenient. Not when standing with a woman who experienced horrifying sexual assault at a very young age means losing the artistic “genius” of her abuser and father.

 

It’s long past time to stop supporting Woody Allen.

About The Author

-- Chief Copy Editor Emeritus-- Politics

13 Responses

  1. JRome

    I might not be old, but a man. I can disagree on the matter because the facts imply the incident didn’t happen and I think the #metoo movement should concentrate on substantial or new accusations instead of HEAVILY relying on one accusation that is most likely to turn out NOT true. Dylan often says that any disagreement with her would keep other victims from speaking out. Did she ever think about what a false accusation could do to other victims speaking out? Did she ever say something about her uncles proven pedophilie? Did she ever say something about her mother Mia defending Polanski? Did she ever explain why her elder brothers story (he is contradicting her accusation) is irrelevant to her but the opinion of any given actor is?

    His marriage to Soon-Yi is troubling to many. Understandable. However she is not his step-daughter, they never even lived together in one household and she was around 20 when the affair started.

    I have been reading the Jezebel article and also its comments. They actually deleted lots of contradicting comments or kept them unpublished, mine included. Very disturbing style of journalism.

    I like some of his movies, but neither all nor have I seen all. However I think, artistic work should not be a base for crime claims. Has anyone called Stephen King a psycho for his work?

    If you really want to find a well-balanced view on this case, read the results of the actual investigations of the case. Read what professionals in the matter like Linda Fairstein have to say about it. Consider that the custody trial Woody lost and where all the critical comments are coming from was a custody trial and never aimed at answering the molestation issue. And please, first of all, read what Dylans elder brother Moses (13 at the time) said about it and how he explains why the accusation isn’t true. That also puts the whold custody trial where Moses attested as a child into a completely different light.

    Last thing, isn’t it all suspicious how in the light of #metoo everyone is forced to discuss an old accusation that was investigated several times in the 90s, that concentrates on a rich family with lots of public influence (Farrow), where no new facts appeared (except Moses’ account) since the 90s and where the accuser (Dylan) seeks only for public uproar instead of taking it to court? Is that really the main focus of #metoo?

    [above i only cited the most obvious available material contradicting the accusation, there is much more]

    Reply
  2. Tempe

    Clearly you haven’t read up much on this case at all. The opposite is true. Allen was investigated by expert teams into child abuse and they found no abuse occurred and that Dylan was most likely coached. Her brother, Moses Farrow, corroborates this and says he witnessed the coaching. It’s convenient to leave that out but that’s the truth and probably the real reason Mia didn’t forge ahead with charges and a trial ie because the evidence was against her and it was unwinnable. The prosecutor was severely disciplined when he said he had probable cause but didn’t proceed. That usually indicates that there is no case and it’s a way to save face.You can’t just take a person on their word because you prefer how they look or WA seems a bit creepy. I doubt you know more than the experts, don’t you? How vile to label someone a paedophile on the basis on hearsay.

    Reply
  3. Fred Wesley

    Has Sabina Dirienzo even researched this case? No, there is not a “breadth” of evidence that Allen molested Dylan Farrow. Two separate investigations by teams that specialize in such matters concluded that Dylan was NOT MOLESTED and that Dylan changed her story many times. One agency was the expert team selected by the Prosecuting Attorney who claimed to have probable cause to prosecute Allen…but didn’t. Despite all the publicity on this case, no agents of the law have ever brought charges against him.

    Also, Dylan’s older brother Moses, who was in the house that day, says that the alleged molestation never occurred and that Dylan was coached by her mother to believe it did. Isn’t that worth considering?

    And Woody Allen did not marry his stepdaughter. He married an adult woman who was someone else’s stepdaughter. It might also be worth mentioning that they have been happily married for a quarter of a century so that just might be a very healthy relationship. Exactly how does interest in consensual sex with an 18 year old woman indicate a desire to engage non-consensual sex with a 7-year-old?

    You can make a strong case for any point of view if you only present one side.

    Reply
    • Dr. Bob

      WOODY ALLEN IS A PEDERAST AND A SEXUAL DEVIANT PREDATOR WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PRISON 40 YEARS AGO!

      Reply
  4. Woody Allen Mob Lynching

    One of the things I understand very well is why people – mostly women, mostly younger – have decided Woody Allen is guilty. MeToo is born from Dylan Farrow’s brother, Ronan Farrow, investigation on Weinstein: could you imagine 1 second they can accept Woody Allen innocent without been discredited ? MeToo doesn’t take care Woody Allen is innocent, they NEED it guilty.

    You just need to read two paragraphs to understand that Sabina Dirienzo is a MeToo groupie whoknows nothing about the case but is happy to repeat the same calomnies as other people to bark with the pack.

    Dylan Farrow have changed her story many times. Her father Woody Allen didn’t, he has always denied the allegations and Dylan Farrow is insulting him by saying he’s lying.

    There is a breadth of evidence that Allen didn’t molested his daughter. Woody Allen have been investigated by two different states, both have said he didn’t abuse his 7 years old daughter Dylan Farrow and Woody Allen wasn’t prosecuted.

    Dylan Farrow is Ronan Farrow’s sister, whose investigation into Weinstein is at the origin of the MeToo movement. Who could accept that Ronan Farrow’s sister does not tell the truth and that she’s only a pawn in the revenge of her mother Mia Farrow, humiliated as no actress had ever been before her by the relationship and then the marriage of her adopted 19 years old daughter Soon-Yi Previn with Woody Allen?

    People saying that they know W. Allen molested his 7 years old daughter because he have a relationship with his underage adoptive daughter or because in his movie, Manhattan, a 42 years old man, interpreted by Allen, is dating a 17 years girl, are not only silly and despicable: they are also completely wrong. Not only young women are not little girls, but Woody Allen and Mia Farrow have never been married and have never lived together. Soon-Yi Previn was Mia Farrow and Andre Previn 19 years old adoptive daughter and as she has said herself, Woody Allen was never a paternal figure for her: Andre Previn was the paternal figure.

    Dr. Coates, who regularly treated the couple’s biological son, Satchel (now Ronan), from 1990 to 1992, and often conversed or met with both parents testified that on Aug. 1 Ms. Farrow called her after having learned that the affair with Ms. Previn was continuing. Ms. Farrow described Mr. Allen as “satanic and evil,” Dr. Coates said, adding that Ms. Farrow pleaded with her to “find a way to stop him.”

    Four days after that conversation, the psychologist testified, Ms. Farrow phoned again, saying that Dylan had begun complaining that Mr. Allen had abused her. Dr. Coates characterized Ms. Farrow as having been extremely calm during the call, in contrast to her agitated state in other calls.
    http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/02/23/reviews/farrow-doctor.html

    Because of Woody Allen celebrity and because he wasn’t showing remorse about his love relationship with Mia Farrow ‘s 19 years old daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, Judge Wilk’s conclusions are skewed by barely concealed revulsion toward him.

    Worst, as if that was not enough to make it biased, he was married to an attorney who advocates for abused women and children and “believes the victim”. Can you believe one second that Judge Wilk didn’t WANT Woody Allen guilty ?

    Judge Wilk was so biased against Woody Allen that he found some reasons to challenge ALL testimonies saying he didn’t abuse Dylan: the Dr. Susan Coates (a woman), the Dr. Nancy Schultz (a woman) and the Yale-New Haven team (The Yale-New Haven investigation was conducted over a six-month period by Dr. Leventhal, a pediatrician; Dr. Julia Hamilton, who has a Ph.D. in social work; and Ms. Jennifer Sawyer, who has a master’s degree in social work: they found Dylan Farrow has not been abused but could have been coached or influenced by her mother, Mia Farrow).

    At the end, Judge Wilk couldn’t find Dylan was sexually abused and Woody Allen wasn’t prosecuted.

    Woody Allen was cleared a 2nd time few months later by a different report from a different state:
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/26/nyregion/agency-drops-abuse-inquiry-in-allen-case.html

    Now that Moses Farrow has spoken and said that so many times he saw his mother, Mia Farrow, trying to convince his sister Dylan that she was abused, we know the Yale-Haven report was right and the Judge Wilk, wrong. Woody Allen didn’t abuse his daughter, as he has always professed since 25 years.

    Dylan Farrow has said his brother Moses Farrow is dead for her. Moses Farrow is an asian man, MeToo don’t want to hear about him: he’s also dead for Sabina Dirienzo.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/movies/mia-farrow-woody-allen-abuse.html
    https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/05/woody-allen-dylan-farrow-moses
https://ronanfarrowletter.wordpress.com/2018/01/04/moses-farrow-speaks-out/

    Reply
  5. Maurice

    1. I agree that we should listen to every alleged victim. However, it is madness to request that we should BELIEVE every alleged victim. Acronymous separations often lead to false accusations from both sides in order to gain custody or financial compensation. (This applies to both sexes!)

    2. I believe that Woody Allen is innocent and did not molest Dylan Farrow. The evidence leaves enough reasonable doubt to warrant this conclusion. On the other hand, I can respect people who believe Dylan Farrow. From an objective viewpoint, we simply cannot know what really happened.

    3. Furthermore, Richard Morgan’s piece on Woody Allen’s scribbles and notes that was published in the Washington Post was a hack job of bad journalism. Anyone seriously dealing the study of sources had to be cringing when reading this. Morgan’s article really is so poor that it is a shame to quote it anywhere

    3. That Woody Allen betrayed Mia with her adopted daughter was deeply awful behaviour, but not a crime, not illegal. I will not judge artists for their good or bad behaviour. I do not want to go back to the times when Ingrid Bergman could not work in Hollywood because of her scandalous divorce. What is next? Boycotting an author’s book because he or she cheated on his or her spouse?

    4. All this reeks of a puritanism that is hard to bear. America really is on a path to regression and narrow-mindedness.

    Reply
  6. James C

    For some added context, it’s sad to see three of Mia’s 10 adopted children having committed suicide (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3804903/Mia-s-cursed-family-Years-Brangelina-Mia-Farrow-collected-adopted-family-world-one-child-ran-lover-Woody-Allen-suicide-week-means-THREE-died-tragically.html) and one estranged.

    Meanwhile, Woody and Soon-Yi’s two adopted children are grown up and from their older daughter’s posts (https://www.yooying.com/hybrid_kumquat) it suggests a happy upbringing.

    Reply
  7. Michael

    I am not sure if you are a true journalist, or simply want to be one. Either way, I expect truth in reporting. This article contains very little, and is almost entirely conclusory.

    Let’s analyze:

    “There is a breadth of evidence that Allen molested Farrow. Jezebel reported that Farrow’s babysitters and tutor witnessed inappropriate behavior, a Connecticut state attorney said at that time he had probable cause to try Allen”

    A few issues here. You say there is a breadth of evidence but only cite to circumstantial situations. Being what some might call “inappropriate” with a child is a far cry from being one of the worst criminals known to man- a child molester. You bring no attention to the counterpoints of your argument, such that Allen passed a lie detector test and was found to have done nothing wrong by a Yale panel of experts. On the last point, the attorney was later reprimanded for that statement. I am an attorney and cannot stress enough how egregious it is to say what he said and not bring charges. That proves nothing, other than he was bad at his job.

    Another glaring error: “Stephens also glossed over Allen’s marriage to his stepdaughter. As reported by PageSix, Allen married stepdaughter Soon-Yi Previn in 1997.”

    This is a simple error of fact. Soon-Yi was not Allen’s stepdaughter. Surely you know that a state would not allow you to marry your child, right? Fact check, please! The two never even lived under the same roof. Now I will be the first to admit that the age difference and their circumstance of meeting is creepy. However, creepy is not illegal, and it certainly does not prove someone to be a child molester.

    Please do not assume that I am taking sides. I am on the side of justice and just want to point out that this is not a cut-and-dry case. There are many angles to this, and we will likely never know what actually happened. Victims of abuse should be supported and urged to tell the story. But it’s also dangerous to automatically condemn someone for an alleged act alone.

    Reply
  8. Mad As Hell

    Damn, look at all the people who are so quick to diss a student in defense of the rich, famous, powerful man who features pedophilia and incest as a consistent theme in his movies. Your mothers must be so proud.

    From Hannah and her Sisters:
    MICKEY: Why all of a sudden is the sketch dirty?
    ED: Child molestation is a touchy subject, and the affiliates…
    MICKEY: Read the papers, half the country’s doing it!
    ED: Yes, but you name names.

    Gross. Theres more where that came from.

    Nothing the author said was untrue. I believe the witness accounts, you guys can look up all the evidence that point to his guilt, but you’re not going to because you have an attachment to him, youre only going to look at the facts that validate what you WANT to be true. Go ahead, say im wrong or accuse me of the same, but deep down you know its true.

    Here’s the thing about believing people. Have any of you ever thought about the power dynamics of child-rape, and how easy it is to get away with? Probably not, the topic likely makes your stomach turn and your blood run cold. No one ever believes children, we still mostly dont believe women, but children have no rights, no agency, and my god are they easy to exploit, even as teenagers. How many children had to be raped by priests until people finally decided to come forward about it? How many underage girls had to be molested by Larry Nassar and report it before he was finally brought to justice? How many of you think it wouldnt be damaging to YOUR OWN reputation to come out and accuse someone raped you as a child, especially someone famous? Crying rape doesnt win you any friends, it’s a career-killer, ITS HUMILIATING, if it isnt true its just not worth making the accusation, i promise you. Only 2% of reported rapes are false, and only about half of them are reported (though hopefully that numbers gone up recently, and 97% of those who are found guilty never spend a day in jail.

    Maybe we should ask ourselves – what would the circumstances need to be for us to believe Dylan? When is a victim of child-rape believable? Personally i think its when theres at least 10 of them per rapist… the word of one child who grew up to be a woman is not even close to being enough, but people seem to start believing someones a rapist when at least 10 people make accusations about them. so sad but apparently true, thats a lot of suffering.

    Just wondering if any of you have thought about those things before. theyre pretty common sense if you think about it, but it does require one to have a sense of empathy to understand. I dont expect to convice anyone that hes guilty, all i wish is that anyone reading genuinely reflects on the questions i asked. Maybe that reasonable doubt isnt as reasonable as you thought.

    Based on statistics about how rape is handled and prosecuted in this country, and especially the horrifying persistence of child rape and child porn, and based on all the evidence from the case, yeah, I believe Dylan.

    To the person who says this reeks of puritanism, FUCK YOU, sincerely, from everyone whos ever been raped as a child or exploited as a teenager. Fuck you. In fact, you all kinda sound like people who might have guilty consciences… i mean, come on, getting teenage girls drunk so you can take advantage of their lowered inhibitions for sex was so normal until recently (even when theyre not drunk its so easy to influence them if they like you) who hasnt done that at some point, right? Now suddenly we all agree that’s rape. Pretty scary, huh? Nah, probably not as scary as being a teenage girl trying to figure out who she can trust and who just wants to exploit her…

    Wake the fuck up and realize that this is a real problem and we’re not wrong to question the status quo when the victim stands by her accusation as an adult, and that Woody Allen doesnt need your help defending himself to a college student.

    To the author: youre absolutely right, dont listen to these pigs.

    Reply
  9. Celia Cook

    People will delude themselves to an astonishing degree. Woody Allen was taking naked pictures of his girlfriend’s daughter when she was a teenager. That’s the evidence that was found, you’d have to be completely stupid to think there weren’t other pictures that were taken before his abuse was finally discovered. His penis was more important than this family he destroyed. He estranged brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, for a lifetime. Putting his perverse desires above the wellbeing of his own family. Pedophiles are notorious for their ability to cover up their behavior in plain sight. He adopts little girls, he keeps surrounding himself with young girls. The apologists for wealthy, powerful men who use their position to sexually assault underage children need to examine their motives. It’s sick. Whether or not you believe he molested Dylan Farrow, he has molested other young girls who have spoken out through the years. There are boxes full of pictures and twisted fixation on young girls sleeping with old men upon which he has written reams and filmed. That he has been allowed to continue his abusive behavior is horrendous, and it makes me ill to think of what he’s done to his two youngest daughters and other girls in his orbit as his current daughter/wife has aged. His movies can please future audiences for their artistic value. During his lifetime our society and his industry ought to shun him, his enablers, and every person who is known to rape, molest, or in any way seek out sex with children. Adults who stand by and do nothing while these men rape, the Joe Paternos of the world, are worse than the pedophiles themselves, who are sick. No adult has an excuse for assisting or ignoring child rape. Anyone who suspects another person of raping children needs to stand up and not be a Gym Jordan. The benefit of the doubt goes to the child every single time. We will speak out about Woody Allen until the long overdue day he finally drops dead and all young girls will have one less abuser to fear.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Woody Allen Mob Lynching Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.