Woody Allen sexual assault allegations
American film director Woody Allen was accused in 1992 by his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, then seven years old, of having sexually assaulted her in the home of her adoptive mother, Mia Farrow, in Bridgewater, Connecticut.[1] Allen has repeatedly denied the allegations.[2]
Background[edit]
Woody Allen and Mia Farrow began a 12-year relationship in 1980; they maintained separate homes throughout and did not marry. When the relationship began, Farrow had seven children: three biological sons from her marriage to composer André Previn, three adopted girls (two Vietnamese and one Korean, Soon-Yi Previn), and one adopted Korean boy, Moses Farrow.[3][4] In July 1985 Farrow adopted a baby girl, Dylan, from Texas. Allen was not involved in the adoption, but when Dylan arrived he assumed a parental role toward her and began spending more time in Farrow's home.[5] In December 1987 Farrow gave birth to Allen's biological son, Satchel (later known as Ronan Farrow).[6][7] Farrow wanted to adopt another child in 1991; Allen said he would not object so long as she agreed to his adoption of Dylan and Moses. Allen's adoption of the two children was finalized in December 1991.[5]
In or around December 1991, Allen began an affair with Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, who lived with Farrow. When Farrow and André Previn adopted Soon-Yi in 1978, she had been abandoned in the slums of Seoul; the passport issued for the adoption said that she was seven, and a bone scan in the U.S. indicated that she was between five and seven.[8] In 1990 Soon-Yi asked if she could accompany Allen to a basketball game. They attended several games together and by 1991 had become closer.[5] Allen's affair with Soon-Yi came to light in January 1992, when Farrow found nude photographs of Soon-Yi in Allen's home. Allen, then 57, said he had taken them the day before and told Farrow that he had first had sex with Soon-Yi around two weeks earlier.[9]
Although the discovery shocked the family, Farrow did not stop Allen from visiting her home, and she completed her work on his film Husbands and Wives (1992), the 13th film of his in which she appeared. According to Farrow, Allen said his relationship with Soon-Yi was over.[4] That summer Soon-Yi lost her job as a camp counselor after spending too much time talking to a "Mr. Simon" on the telephone; this turned out to be Allen.[5] Their relationship continued, and they were married in Venice on December 23, 1997.[10]
Allegation[edit]
On August 4, 1992, Allen visited his children at Farrow's Bridgewater home while she was out shopping with a friend.[8][11] The following day, that friend's babysitter, who had spent August 4 in Farrow's home, told her employer that she had seen Allen kneel on the floor in front of Dylan, then aged seven, with his face in her lap.[12] When Farrow asked Dylan about it, Dylan said that, on the same day, Allen had touched Dylan's "private part" while they were alone together in the attic.[8] Farrow made a video of Dylan repeating the allegation and reported it to Dylan's pediatrician, who informed authorities.[8][1][4][13] One woman employed to care for Farrow's children later testified that for about 20 minutes that afternoon she did not know where Dylan was, while a second said that, at one point, Dylan had been wearing no underwear under her dress.[12] Monica Thompson, one of the Farrow household nannies, testified in a deposition she had felt pressured by Farrow to support the molestation allegation, and that fellow nanny Kristie Groteke also had reservations, saying Groteke "did not have Dylan out of her sight for longer than five minutes. She did not remember Dylan being without her underwear."[14]
Legal action[edit]
Custody proceedings[edit]
On August 13, 1992, a week after being told about the allegation, Allen began proceedings in New York Supreme Court for sole custody of his and Farrow's biological son, Satchel, as well as Dylan and Moses, the two adopted children of Farrow that Allen had adopted too.[15] Four days later he made his first public statement about his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, and on the same day the Connecticut State Police said they were investigating the assault allegation.[16][17] On August 18, Allen held a news conference calling the allegation "an unconscionable and gruesomely damaging manipulation of innocent children for vindictive and self-serving motives".[18][lower-alpha 1]
Custody trial[edit]
The custody trial began on March 19, 1993[19] and ended on May 4.[20] The police had asked the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of Yale–New Haven Hospital to investigate. Consisting of two social workers, a nurse and Dr. John M. Leventhal, a pediatrician, the team concluded Dylan had not been sexually assaulted.[21] Citing inconsistencies in Dylan's account, Leventhal testified by deposition that, in the Yale–New Haven team's view, Dylan may have been coached by Farrow or may have been emotionally disturbed when she made the allegation, or a combination of the two.[lower-alpha 2]
In his 33-page decision in June 1993,[23] Justice Elliott Wilk rejected Allen's portrayal of Farrow as a "woman scorned", said there was no credible evidence that she had coached Dylan, and criticized Allen for his "trial strategy" of turning family members against one another. Wilk said that the Yale–New Haven team's unwillingness to testify in court, except through Leventhal's deposition, together with the destruction of its notes, had rendered its report "sanitized and, therefore, less credible". Rejecting Allen's bid for custody of the three children, he denied Allen visitation rights with Dylan, calling Allen's behavior toward Dylan "grossly inappropriate".[23][24][23][1] Wilk also ruled that Allen should not have unsupervised visits with his biological son, five-year-old Satchel, and that he would not force Moses, then 15, to see Allen if he did not want to.[24]
Other inquiries[edit]
In September 1993 the state prosecutor said that he would not pursue the molestation allegation.[25][26] The following month the New York Department of Social Services closed its own 14-month investigation, stating that there was no credible evidence to support the allegation.[27]
February 2014 open letter[edit]
Dylan Farrow repeated the allegation in February 2014 in an open letter published in the New York Times blog of Nicholas Kristof, a family friend.[28] Writing that Allen had made her feel uncomfortable "for as long as [she] could remember", she alleged, for example, that he would get into bed with her in his underwear and that she would hide to avoid him.[29] Allen called the allegations "untrue and disgraceful".[30][31] Dylan's brother Moses, who was 14 at the time of the original allegation, said in February 2014 that several people had been present in the house during Allen's visit in 1992 and that "no one, not my father or sister, was off in any private spaces".[32][33] Moses also asserted that Farrow had cultivated a climate in which he and his siblings felt compelled to support her views; he said Farrow had physically abused him.[34] Ronan Farrow (formerly Satchel), remains estranged from Allen and has said that he believes Dylan;[35] an article of Ronan's in The New Yorker in November 2017 helped uncover the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations.[36]
Later statements[edit]
Following the Weinstein controversy, Dylan Farrow wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in December 2017 asking, "Why has the #MeToo revolution spared Woody Allen?"[37] Several actors responded over the following weeks by saying they regretted having worked with Allen. Statements were issued by Griffin Newman,[17] Ellen Page,[38] Evan Rachel Wood,[39] David Krumholtz,[40] Greta Gerwig,[41] Mira Sorvino,[42] Rebecca Hall,[43] Timothée Chalamet,[44] Rachel Brosnahan,[45] Natalie Portman,[46] and Colin Firth.[47] Newman, Hall and Chalamet said they would donate their earnings from their role in Allen's film A Rainy Day in New York (2018) to charities.[44]
In January 2018, Dylan repeated the allegation in a television interview with Gayle King for CBS This Morning. Allen issued a statement saying that "even though the Farrow family is cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time's Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation, that doesn't make it any more true today than it was in the past. I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago."[26]
Notelist[edit]
- ↑ During the custody trial, one of Allen's lawyers alleged that Farrow's lawyers had suggested "the charges could be made to go away" if Allen agreed to pay around $7 million. Alan Dershowitz, one of Farrow's lawyers, said there had been an "exploratory" session to attempt mediation. "To have this described as an extortionate meeting is ridiculous," he said. He added that Allen's lawyers were, in his view, "trying to set a trap, the trap failed and now they testify as if the trap succeeded." One of Allen's lawyers acknowledged when cross-examined that the discussion about money related mostly to the children's education and medical care, as well as money owed for Farrow's film work for Allen.[12]
- ↑ Leventhal said that the team "had two hypotheses: one, that these were statements that were made by an emotionally disturbed child and then became fixed in her mind. And the other hypothesis was that she was coached or influenced by her mother. We did not come to a firm conclusion. We think that it was probably a combination."[22][1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Orth, Maureen (7 February 2014). "10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation". Vanity Fair.
- ↑ "Woody Allen denies abusing his daughter Dylan Farrow". BBC News. February 8, 2014.
- ↑ Lax, Eric (February 24, 1991). "Woody and Mia: A New York Story". The New York Times.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Orth, Maureen (November 2013). "Momma Mia!". Vanity Fair.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Stern, Marlow (10 February 2014). "Inside the Shocking Custody Case Court Documents that Shed Light on the Dylan Farrow-Woody Allen Saga". The Daily Beast.
- ↑ "Son Born to Mia Farrow And Woody Allen". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 22, 1987.
- ↑ "Exclusive: Mia Farrow and Eight of Her Children Speak Out on Their Lives, Frank Sinatra, and the Scandals They've Endured". Vanity Fair. October 2, 2013. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Orth, Maureen (August 5, 2008). "Mia's Story". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on November 1992.
- ↑ Perez-Pena, Richard (March 23, 1993). "Nude Photographs Are Focus Of Woody Allen's Testimony". The New York Times.
- ↑ Collins, Glenn (December 25, 1997). "Mixed Reviews Greet Woody Allen Marriage". The New York Times.
- ↑ Hoban, Phoebe (September 21, 1992). "Woody and Mia". New York Magazine.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Marks, Peter (April 10, 1993). "Sitter Questions Allen Actions With Daughter". The New York Times.
- ↑ Winter, Jessica (February 7, 2014). "Woody Allen and Dylan Farrow: Just the Facts". Slate.
- ↑ Goldman, John J. (February 2, 1993). "Nanny Casts Doubt on Farrow Charges : Custody: She tells Allen's lawyers the actress pressured her to support molestation accusations against him. She says others have reservations". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ↑ Weber, Bruce (August 14, 1992). "Woody Allen Files Child-Custody Lawsuit". The New York Times.
- ↑ Weber, Bruce (August 18, 1992). "Public Disclosures From the Private Life of Woody Allen". The New York Times.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Wilkinson, Alissa (January 11, 2018). "Why Woody Allen hasn't been toppled by the #MeToo reckoning — yet". Vox.
- ↑ Barron, James (August 19, 1992). "Striking Back, Woody Allen Denies Child Sex-Abuse Allegation". The New York Times.
- ↑ Perez-Pena, Richard (March 20, 1993). "Woody Allen Tells of Affair as Custody Battle Begins". The New York Times.
Perez-Pena, Richard (March 26, 1993). "Farrow Testifies That Daughter Accused Allen of Molestation". The New York Times.
- ↑ Marks, Peter (May 5, 1993). "Allen-Farrow Trial Ends in New Round of Old Charges". The New York Times.
- ↑ Perez-Pena, Richard (March 19, 1993). "Woody Allen Says Report Clears Him". The New York Times.
Marks, Peter (April 28, 1993). "Yale Study About Allen Flawed, Expert Testifies". The New York Times.
- ↑ Perez-Pena, Richard (May 4, 1993). "Doctor Cites Inconsistencies In Dylan Farrow's Statement". The New York Times.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Shea, Danny (February 7, 2014). "Here's The 1993 Woody Allen Custody Ruling In Its Damning, Detailed Entirety". HuffPost.; Allen v. Farrow (1993) (N.Y. Sup. June 7, 1993).
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Marks, Peter (June 8, 1993). "Allen Loses to Farrow in Bitter Custody Battle". The New York Times.
- ↑ Henneberger, Melinda (September 25, 1993). "Connecticut Prosecutor Won't File Charges Against Woody Allen". The New York Times.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Dylan Farrow details her sexual assault allegations against Woody Allen". CBS News. January 18, 2018.
- ↑ Pérez-Peña, Richard (October 26, 1993). "Agency Drops Abuse Inquiry in Allen Case". The New York Times.
- ↑ Kristof, Nicholas (February 1, 2014). "Dylan Farrow's Story". The New York Times.
- ↑ Farrow, Dylan (February 1, 2014). "Dylan Farrow's Story". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Woody Allen Calls Sexual Abuse Claims 'Untrue and Disgraceful'". Variety. February 2, 2014.
- ↑ Allen, Woody (February 7, 2014). "Woody Allen Speaks Out". The New York Times.
- ↑ Rothman, Michael (February 5, 2014). "Dylan Farrow's Brother Moses Says Mia Farrow, Not Woody Allen Was Abusive". ABC News.
- ↑ Pulver, Andrew (5 February 2013). "Moses Farrow defends Woody Allen over child abuse allegations". The Guardian.
- ↑ Lax, Eric (2017). Start To Finish: Woody Allen and the Art of MovieMaking. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 123–129. Search this book on
- ↑ Farrow, Ronan (May 11, 2016). "My Father, Woody Allen, and the Danger of Questions Unasked (Guest Column)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ↑ "Ronan Farrow on how the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke open". CBS News. November 29, 2017.
- ↑ "Dylan Farrow: Why has the #MeToo revolution spared Woody Allen?". The Los Angeles Times. December 7, 2017.
- ↑ "Ellen Page says working with Woody Allen 'is the biggest regret of my career'". Women in the World. November 10, 2017.
- ↑ Rachel Wood, Evan (December 4, 2016). "That was years before I read Dylan's letter. Unfortunately, I can't say that I would again. @juicybombon". Twitter. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
- ↑ Verhoeven, Beatrice (January 6, 2018). "'Wonder Wheel' Actor Calls Working With Woody Allen 'One of My Most Heartbreaking Mistakes'". TheWrap.
- ↑ Harmon, Steph (January 11, 2018). "Greta Gerwig regrets Woody Allen film: 'I will not work for him again'". The Guardian.
- ↑ Sorvino, Mira (January 11, 2018). "Exclusive: Mira Sorvino's Open Letter To Dylan Farrow". HuffPost.
- ↑ Levin, Sam (12 January 2018). "Rebecca Hall says she won't work with Woody Allen again". The Guardian.
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 Harmon, Steph (16 January 2018). "Timothée Chalamet: 'I don't want to profit from my work on Woody Allen's film'". The Guardian.
- ↑ Feinberg, Scott (January 17, 2018). "Rachel Brosnahan Says She Regrets Working With Woody Allen". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ↑ Cooney, Samantha (January 18, 2018). "These Actors All Worked With Woody Allen. Now They Regret It and Support Dylan Farrow". Time. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ↑ Levin, Sam (January 18, 2018). "Colin Firth says he will not work with Woody Allen again". The Guardian. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
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