'Narcissism.'
In the wake of the #MeToo and Time's Up movement, Hollywood has finally turned a watchful eye to the monsters under its bed and ousted many prominent actors, directors and producers accused of sexual abuse. While the doors have closed on figures like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, it’s reopened an old wound that Hollywood has yet to heal - the allegations of child sexual abuse by writer-director Woody Allen.
After Diane Keaton, an actress and frequent collaborator on Woody Allen's films, reaffirmed her belief in his innocence on Monday in a tweet, Knocked Up director Judd Apatow swiftly fired back in damning condemnation of Woody Allen.
Keaton posted a video of Allen’s 1992 interview with 60 Minutes, during which he was asked about his ex-wife Mia Farrow’s allegations that he had molested her then 7 year old daughter Dylan Farrow. In it, Allen vehemently denied the accusations and called the resulting court proceedings a ‘multi-million dollar industry that has sprouted up over a total non-event’.
Keaton added the caption, ‘Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him. It might be of interest to take a look at the 60 Minute interview from 1992 and see what you think. ‘
Many took issue with Diane Keaton’s statement and director Judd Apatow had no time for it. He responded to Keaton’s tweet yesterday, firing back, ‘I see a man who wanted what he wanted and didn’t care that he was having an affair with a 19 year old when he was 54 who was also his daughter’s sister.’
He also referenced the accusations levelled at Woody Allen and continued, ‘He also took nude photos of this child who he had known since she was nine and left them out for his family to see. Narcissism.’
He has since been thanked by Dylan Farrow, who wrote, 'I can never thank you enough, @juddapatow, for all your support.'
Woody Allen was accused of sexually abusing his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992, after seven year old Dylan told her mother Mia Farrow he had inappropriately touched her in their home attic. After a bitter custody battle during which the judge awarded Mia Farrow full parental custody of both Dylan Farrow and Ronan Farrow, a further sexual abuse case was later dropped against Allen as Dylan was deemed too ‘fragile’ for the trial by Connetticut’s state attorney Frank S. Maco.
Since then, both Dylan and her brother Ronan have been outspoken in their condemnation of Allen’s actions. Dylan renewed her allegations in a 2014 open letter for the New York Times and more recently spoke to CBS News in a heartbreaking interview about the reported abuse on camera.
Ronan Farrow, a journalist who played a crucial role in breaking stories regarding Harvey Weinstein’s numerous abuse allegations, also addressed the accusations in a provocative 2016 piece for The Hollywood Reporter called My Father, Woody Allen, and the Danger of Questions Unasked.
Many actors who have worked with Allen have been criticised and Dylan Farrow has called them ‘complicit’ in his actions. A select few have come forwards and expressed their regret in working alongside Allen, including newcomer Timothee Chalamet’s pledge to donate his entire salary for A Rainy Day in New York to Time’s Up, a US organisation named RAINN (the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) and the LGBT Center in New York.
He said in a statement, ‘I am learning that a good role isn’t the only criteria for accepting a job - that has become much clearer to me in the past few months...I don’t want to profit from my work on [A Rainy Day in New York] and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities.’
While Kate Winslet did not directly name Woody Allen, she indirectly referenced him during an awards speech where she said, ‘I wouldn’t be able to stand here this evening, and keep to myself some bitter regrets that I have at poor decisions to work with individuals with whom I wish I had not. It has become clear to me that by not saying anything, I might be adding to the anguish of many courageous men and women. Sexual abuse is a crime. While it rests with the rule of law to pass judgment, it lies with all of us to listen to the smallest of voices and to never stop listening.’
Hayley Atwell, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page, Colin Firth have also expressed similar sentiments regretting their involvement in Allen's films.
Other actors that have worked with Allen such as Selena Gomez, Justin Timberlake, Emma Stone, Alec Baldwin and Blake Lively have yet to directly address the allegations against him.
