Woody Allen Gives Some Notes on the Dylan Farrow Scandal

In a New York Times article, Woody Allen fired back against accusations that he molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. The director also had some choice words for Mia Farrow.

In a New York Times article, Woody Allen fired back against accusations that he sexually assaulted his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was seven years old. The director also had some choice words for his ex-wife Mia Farrow.

Of course, I did not molest Dylan. I loved her and hope one day she will grasp how she has been cheated out of having a loving father and exploited by a mother more interested in her own festering anger than her daughter’s well-being." 

Nearly a week had passed since Dylan Farrow published an open letter on Nick Kristof's blog that triggered one of the most charged controversies of late, alleging that Allen molested her in 1992. Earlier in January, Allen had been honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes, an episode that not only prompted an incendiary reaction from his (mayhaps) son Ronan Farrow, but according to Kristof, also "ignited a debate about the propriety of the award." 

In the wake of Dylan Farrow's letter, Allen was hounded at basketball games and became the target of an internet-wide fusillade of outrage. A few others, including Dylan's brother Moses Farrow, came to Allen's defense.

The sheer forcefulness of Allen's letter seems likely to return the simmering saga to a tabloid boil in the coming days. In the open paragraph, Allen recalled Mia Farrow's initial molestation accusations against him in the early 1990s, characterizing them as a product of the "self-serving transparency of her malevolence." He would go on to assail his ex-wife for her supposed refusal to take a lie detector test, call into moral question Farrow's alleged extramarital goings on with Frank Sinatra, and accuse Farrow of working a "shabby agenda." 

However, speaking of Dylan Farrow, Allen was much more conciliatory. Allen expressed remorse that he "had put her in the position of being used as a pawn for revenge" and expressed hope that they might eventually develop a relationship. Drawing reference to his wife (and Farrow's adopted daughter), he added: "Soon-Yi and I made countless attempts to see Dylan but Mia blocked them all, spitefully knowing how much we both loved her but totally indifferent to the pain and damage she was causing the little girl merely to appease her own vindictiveness."