Woody Allen Calls Allegations by Adopted Daughter That He Sexually Assaulted Her 'Disgraceful'
Actor and director Woody Allen denied accusations made by his adopted daughter that he sexually assaulted her at age seven, and called them "disgraceful."
"Mr. Allen has read the article and found it untrue and disgraceful. He will be responding very soon," Allen's representative shared with The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday.
An open letter was written by Dylan Farrow, whom Allen adopted while in a relationship with actress Mia Farrow in the 1980s. While accusations that Allen abused Dylan made headline news in 1993, the director was never prosecuted and has denied wrongdoing, arguing that Farrow convinced her daughter to believe in a lie.
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In her first direct statement on the issue on Saturday, published by The New York Times, Dylan Farrow again accused Allen of sexually assaulting her at a very young age.
"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," the now 28-year-old woman revealed. "He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies."
Farrow also describes some of the graphic acts she claims Allen did to her, and the struggles she has had to deal with growing up, including developing eating disorders and cutting herself due to the trauma.
She goes on to criticize the Hollywood actors that have supported Allen and starred in his movies throughout the years, arguing that it is easier to dismiss the accusations against the director than face the harsh reality of truth.
"What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? 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?" she poses.
"Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse."
In a note attached to Farrow's letter, NYT's Nicholas Kristof clarifies that since Allen was never prosecuted, he deserves "the presumption of innocence." He added that the decision to publish Farrow's account comes from the recent controversy around Allen winning a Golden Globe lifetime achievement award, which renewed the accusations of child sex abuse.
