With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today .
Woody Allen responds to renewed allegations that he molested adopted daughter Dylan Farrow
Director Woody Allen faces reporters briefly in New York, June 7, 1993, following a judge's ruling ending his attempt to gain custody of children Moses, Dylan and Satchel. The ruling followed a bitter custody battle with former lover actress Mia Farrow.
(
Michael Albans/AP
)
Woody Allen wrote a New York Times guest column online Friday in response to renewed attention given to allegations that he molested his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, including an open letter in the Times by Dylan Farrow explicitly detailing her alleged molestation and calling out Hollywood celebrities who have worked with Allen. The column is set to be published in Sunday's Times.
Allen, 78, lays out his side of the story in the column, writing that he had found the claims by longtime partner Mia Farrow that he had molested their then 7-year-old adopted daughter "ludicrous" from the beginning and saying that Farrow was vindictive.
"After all, I was a 56-year-old man who had never before (or after) been accused of child molestation. Now, suddenly, when I had driven up to her house in Connecticut one afternoon to visit the kids for a few hours, when I would be on my raging adversary’s home turf, with half a dozen people present, when I was in the blissful early stages of a happy new relationship with the woman I’d go on to marry — that I would pick this moment in time to embark on a career as a child molester should seem to the most skeptical mind highly unlikely."
Allen cites Yale's Child Sexual Abuse Clinic, who investigated and decided that Allen had not abused Dylan, writing that she either was "an emotionally vulnerable child who was caught up in a disturbed family and who was responding to the stresses in the family" or "was coached or influenced by her mother."
Support for LAist comes from
He also writes that he believes the custody judge's ruling saying that "we will probably never know what occurred" was "irresponsible" and that the judge was hard on Allen largely due to his relationship with Mia Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi.
Mia Farrow's adopted son Moses Farrow's interview in the new issue of People Magazine is quoted by Allen: "Of course Woody did not molest my sister," Moses is quoted as saying in People. "My mother drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the family and sexually molesting my sister."
For Allen's full Op-Ed essay, click over to The New York Times.
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Immigration raids have caused some U.S. citizens to carry their passports to the store, to school or to work. But what documents to have on you depends on your citizenship. -
The historic properties have been sitting vacant for decades and were put on the market as-is, with prices ranging from $750,000 to $1.75 million. -
Users of the century old Long Beach wooden boardwalk give these suggestions to safely enjoy it. -
The Newport Beach City Council approved a new artificial surf park that will replace part of an aging golf course. -
The utility, whose equipment is believed to have sparked the Eaton Fire, says payouts could come as quickly as four months after people submit a claim. But accepting the money means you'll have to forego any lawsuits. -
The City Council will vote Tuesday on a proposal to study raising the pay for construction workers on apartments with at least 10 units and up to 85 feet high.
Best of LAist