Woody Allen calls sex abuse allegations “untrue and disgraceful”

Woody Allen calls sex abuse allegations “untrue and disgraceful”
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
ADVERTISEMENT

Film director Woody Allen has called renewed claims by his adopted daughter that he sexually abused her as a child “untrue and disgraceful”, his publicist says.

In her statement to the New York Times, Dylan Farrow repeated allegations she made in 1992 that Allen sexually assaulted her in the attic of her adopted mother Mia Farrow’s house, when she was seven years old. She wrote:

“What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: 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.”

The letter was released the same day as the Writers Guild Awards, for which Allen had been nominated for best screenplay for “Blue Jasmine”.

New York-based attorney Elkan Abramowitz, who represented Allen at the time of the 1992 investigation, appeared to place blame on Mia Farrow for the latest round of accusations, without naming her directly. “It is tragic that after 20 years, a story engineered by a vengeful lover resurfaces after it was fully vetted and rejected by independent authorities,” Abramowitz said. “The one to blame for Dylan’s distress is neither Dylan nor Woody Allen.”

In 1992, Allen and Mia Farrow split up and fought a bitter custody battle for their three children, during which court-appointed experts concluded there was no credible evidence of molestation. Allen was never arrested or charged with sexual abuse. The break-up came after Mia Farrow found nude pictures of her adopted daughter Soon-yi Previn in Allen’s apartment and discovered Allen, then 56, had been having a sexual relationship with the 21-year-old Soon-yi, who Allen then married in 1997.

cc BY flickr/Colin Swan

Share this articleComments

You might also like

'It was only a kiss': Woody Allen sparks more controversy in Venice with World Cup comment

Hachette cancels publication of Woody Allen's memoir a month before release

Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts related to hush money payment