U.S. director Woody Allen poses during the premiere of his film “Blue Jasmine” in Paris.
Credit: Reuters
There’s been yet another twist in the ongoing debate over whether Woody Allen sexually assaulted 7 year old Dylan Farrow 21 years ago. Having till now communicated solely through his lawyer, Allen himself spoke out, denying the charges and alleging that Mia Farrow, Dylan’s adopted mother and Allen’s former partner, had brainwashed her into believing she had been molested.
“Twenty-one years ago, when I first heard Mia Farrow had accused me of child molestation, I found the idea so ludicrous I didn’t give it a second thought,” he begins. “We were involved in a terribly acrimonious breakup, with great enmity between us and a custody battle slowly gathering energy. The self-serving transparency of her malevolence seemed so obvious I didn’t even hire a lawyer to defend myself.”
He then proceeds to reiterate many of the facts of the case: how he took (and passed) a lie detector test; how Mia Farrow refused to do the same; how an impartial special investigative unit found no proof of the incident (which is not the same as clearing him); how another Farrow child, Moses, has since alleged that Mia “brainwashed” him and his siblings and reunited with Allen.
He also speaks briefly about Ronan Farrow, his alleged biological son. “Ronan I didn’t know well because Mia would never let me get close to him from the moment he was born,” he reveals. He also addresses the rumors that Frank Sinatra may have been his real father, bringing up the pesky case of what that means, if it’s true, for all the child support Allen paid over the years.
Allen concludes his piece by stating that this will be his final word on the subject. What he doesn’t state is that he’s inadvertently passing the ball to that guy in your Facebook feed who is sure he knows what really happened and won’t mind clogging up your feed to show it.
As with Ronan Farrow’s open letter, which the New York Times ran last week, this doesn’t “prove” anything. In fact, some of his statements (notably the lie detector claim) don’t gibe with the “10 undeniable facts” that Vanity Fair has run. But since this affair has come to be played in the court of public opinion, as opposed to actual court, it’s only to assumed that next week The New York Times will boast a piece by Mia Farrow, who has yet to speak out at length.
