Woody Allen berates actors who vilified him after child abuse allegations

Woody Allen, Hollywood's once reputed director, has seen his name face several stains of harrowing allegations of abuse and predatory behaviour, over the course of many years. 

During an interview with The Guardian, Allen, 84, opened up about the scandal that sent shockwaves down the industry.

“I assume that for the rest of my life a large number of people will think I was a predator,” he said.

Back in 1992, news broke out about Allen being involved in an affair with his then-partner Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, who had been 21 at the time.

In the midst of the ugly split with her partner, Farrow also alleged him of sexually molesting their adopted seven-year-old daughter, Dylan.

The Connecticut state prosecutor in 1993 said that in spite of probable cause, no charges would be placed on Allen in order to “avoid the unjustifiable risk of exposing a child to the rigors and uncertainties of a questionable prosecution.”

Thirty-four-year-old Dylan has now, years later, maintained that she was abused at the hands of her adopted father -- claims that Allen has rejected strongly.

“I thought people would see it as laughable rubbish right away and from day one I never really took it seriously. I mean, it’s like being confronted with a story that I murdered six people with a machine gun,” he said.

He further criticized all celebrities who had denounced him following the scandal, including Colin Firth, Rebecca Hall and Greta Gerwig.

He had earlier claimed in his recently-released explosive memoir that Timothée Chalamet, that star of his 2019 film A Rainy Day in New York, had only made a public statement of regret about working with Allen owing to the pressure put on him by his sister, in order increase chances of his Oscar win for Call Me By Your Name.

“It’s silly. The actors have no idea of the facts and they latch on to some self-serving, public, safe position. Who in the world is not against child molestation? That’s how actors and actresses are, and [denouncing me] became the fashionable thing to do, like everybody suddenly eating kale,” he told The Guardian.

He said further that it is likely that the scandal may also become part of his obituary but he wouldn’t mind.

“That’s the way it is and all I can do is keep my nose to the grindstone and hope that people will come to their senses at some point. But if not, not. There are many injustices in the world far worse than this. So you live with it.”