Woody Allen’s children lash out over damning new interview with his wife

Woody Allen’s children have lashed out after one of the filmmaker’s close friends was chosen to carry out an interview with his wife Soon-Yi Previn on the sexual abuse allegations made against him by his daughter.

Dylan Farrow has long claimed Allen molested her when she was just seven years old, but he has repeatedly denied the allegations and an investigation later ruled in his favour.

Now, his wife Soon-Yi, who is the adopted daughter of his ex Mia Farrow, has broken her silence on the scandal, appearing to claim to New York magazine Vulture magazine that Mia – mother to Dylan – orchestrated the whole thing.

“But what’s happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust. [Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim. And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn’t,” Soon-Yi told the mag.

The article was written by Allen’s close friend and author Daphne Merkin and both Dylan and her loyal brother Ronan Farrow have slammed the piece, claiming it’s one-sided and doesn’t include enough of Dylan’s side of the story.

Sharing a lengthy message on Twitter, Dylan wrote: “Woody Allen molested me when I was seven years old, part of a documented pattern of inappropriate, abusive touching that led a judge to say there was no evidence I was coached and that it was unsafe for me to be in Woody Allen’s presence.

“The author has written about her friendship and infatuation with Woody Allen. The idea of letting a friend of an alleged predator write a one-sided piece attacking the credibility of his victim is disgusting.”

My statement on New York Magazine: pic.twitter.com/xml6pdaZqb

— Dylan Farrow (@RealDylanFarrow) September 17, 2018

She went on to say the magazine contacted her with some of Soon-Yi’s claims, as well as some of the content of the interview, but she insisted they were all “obvious falsehoods”.

Read more: Blanchett says social media isn’t the “judge and jury” of Woody Allen

“The author even suggested that my mother bribed me to lie with a doll that was not manufactured until years later,” she added. “The story still includes bizarre fabrications about my mother while failing to mention a prosector found probable cause of abuse by Woody Allen and that he was in therapy for his unhealthy fixation on my body.”

Dylan insisted Mia never “coached her”, but always stood by her amid Allen’s constant denials, before insisting no-one is “parading her round as a victim”, as claimed by Soon-Yi.

https://twitter.com/RonanFarrow/status/1041504876621000704

She was immediately backed up by her brother and prominent #MeToo journalist Ronan, who defended his mother Mia in a heartwarming tribute before writing: “But that has never stopped Woody Allen and his allies from planting stories that attack and vilify my mother to deflect from my sister’s credible allegation of abuse.

“As a brother and a son, I’m angry that New York magazine would participate in this kind of hit job, written by a longtime admirer and friend of Woody Allen’s. As a journalist, I’m shocked by the lack of care for the facts, the refusal to include eyewitness testimony that would contradict falsehoods in this piece, and the failure to print my sister’s responses. Survivors of abuse deserve better.”

Responding to criticism, a rep for New York magazine told the New York Posts’ Page Six: “Soon-Yi Previn is telling her story for the first time, and we hope people will withhold judgment until they have read the feature.” They added: “Daphne Merkin’s relationship to Woody Allen is disclosed and is a part of the story, as is Soon-Yi’s reason for speaking out now.”

The magazine included a comment from Dylan, calling the claims her mother coached her “offensive” and adding: “This only serves to revictimise me… Thanks to my mother, I grew up in a wonderful home.”

Have you been following this story?