For all the devoted Woody Allen defenders,
I would be interested in your defense of Woody Allen for Babi Christina Engelhardt’s account that in 1976, a 39-year Woody Allen has sex with her when she was 16?
That’s statutory rape.
11
This is wrong. What is happening to him is the toxic side of MeToo.
12
when I studied law at uni, I learned that rape cases are most difficult
for the accuser they may suffer worse from humiliating attacks on their sexual history in court, and be dragged through years of legal depositions and personal attacks on their character so many have accepted advice from other females that they'd simply rather not go through the further ordeal - which is great for rapists if they go unpunished.
for the accused they may suffer a complete loss of reputation and long-established career just from the accusation even if later proven not true. A man who has spent decades building a good career and reputation can see it destroyed in a moment if his superiors decide to simply remove him on the basis of risk to Their reputation. So his entire future earnings may be destroyed.
So it's muddy waters all the way - and false accusations especially - as they tend to make it harder for society to believe when they're true.
And 'he said - she said' - guess which side males tend to default to believing ... ? (I'm a male who'd like to side with females - but Woody ? I liked his movies – especially the earlier, funnier ones ...
He may be a pervert. But there were also stories of Mia fabricating stories after they separated. So I just don't know.
9
After reading through all sides of this ongoing situation, I conclude that the only clear victim here is Dylan Farrow. The unknown is who is really the victimizer, Woody Allen or Mia Farrow. Based on known evidence and accounts, I tend to believe Woody and Moses more than Mia and Ronan. He is, or was, a great artist in cinema and his work should not be used or re-evaluated in the midst of unproven allegations which are highly questionable. The celebrities and media people who have pronounced judgment and withdrawn from him, without any more factual knowledge than anyone else, are not to be admired at all. Of course, it’s possible Allen may have done this horrible thing, but it’s equally possible, at the very least, that he has been falsely accused. If I were Mia Farrow, I certainly might have devoted my life to destroying this person. It seems that at this point she has succeeded. A sad third act, but Dylan remains as the true victim.
21
@vincent
We’ll never know the true story, but I also tend to believe Mr. Allen. Dylan Farrow chose his path, one that brought him quite a bit of recognition and fame— and a new multimillion dollar apartment on the lower east side. And that’s fine. But it all may lead to its own personal satire, and not one staring a victim.
9
An accusation like this is like the sword of Damocles. It is impossible to get out from under, and that was the intention.
I tend to believe Allen. But the publishing world is now filled with millenials who only know him from his allegations and are afraid of repercussions or, worse, that the book wouldn't sell.
I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
13
@mgh1952 HIS allegations or the allegations against him?
1
@kenneth I did not phrase that well. The allegations against him. Thank you.
3
I guess being well into my 8th decade I am old fashioned. I thought and still do that you are guilty of a crime when a jury of your peers, a Judge or you confess is the way to being guilty. He did not plead guilty. In fact all charges were dismissed. So Allen is guilty in the court of public opinion because the public knows better than any facts. They put the current occupant in the White House using the facts don't matter logic. Allen is way beyond all the living directors, think he writes all the scrips, directs the movie and from the evidence gives actors very little direction letting them find there way with a nudge here and there. Is also a very renowned Jazz musician on the clarinet. In other words a genius of the first order. Yet a certain segment of the media and public relish a good scandal that keeps on giving. As for not publishing Woddy's memoir, well some heads will role when Woody goes beyond the reach of the little people who like to pull down success. Because that book will make millions. Woody Allen in a national treasure...
30
"90% of life is showing up."
Woody Allen
90% of life is attitude. If you show up with the wrong attitude, things go real bad real quick. 90% of life is not merely showing up.
But if you go through life acting like all that matters is showing up, one day karma comes around and teaches you that all those times you showed up with the wrong attitude come back around.
The honchos in New York passed on Woody Allen's memoirs. Sounds like the honchos in New York decided that life is about more than showing up. Woody Allen rather enjoyed tossing darts at Hemingway when Woody Allen was doing his stand-up routine. Got a lot of laughs and make Woody Allen some money. But a billion copies sold of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA later, all these years later, and now not one copy of Mr. Allen's memoirs will be sold. Unless he self-publishes it.
And the ghost of Hemingway is smiling today. Rock on, Cool Papa H.! Poor Woody Allen. Did you really think we prefer reading about your life to reading about Santiago's life? Ah, life is full of surprises and some of them are pleasant--no dobut, Mr. Allen can work that into his next stand-up routine.
4
Allen's defenders say, "He didn't live at the home, he wasn't a father figure." Yet he had a child with Farrow and he adopted some of the kids. I may be unsophisticated but this seems to be evidence of some form of adopting a father figure role.You are involved with a women with a large number of children. You are involved in having and adopting some of those kids. And apparently he felt comfortable considering some of the family children possible sexual partners. My Father married my sister is a difficult concept to understand.
16
I wonder if publishers would reconsider if it was post-mortem, but why not self-publish? Most likely, and ironically, using Amazon. You still put your memoir out there, and while there's no guaranteed payday, you set the price and actually reap a bigger percentage of it than via conventional means. But does it make you more susceptible to litigation? Or is it simply not ego-stroking enough?
4
Woody is being maltreated. I have no doubts about this. I have serious doubts about anything Mia Farrow has to say, serial home wrecker that she is - hardly a paragon of moral rectitude. Woody is a superb writer. I’d love to read his memoir.
21
America's "dumbing down" process has brought us to this.
There is such a mass exodus of independant thought and individuals capable of doing more than re-mumbling whatever thay last saw or heard on the media that it brought us Trump, his opponent, and the Farrow-types. And MeToo as the nexus of what once was a movement for women's right to respect as equal human beings.
Now, along with the knee-jerk slogans from so-called news media and bumper-sticker slogans from both sides of our dumbed-down politicians we have neither respect nor equality.
What we have is a nation divided into a mass of pigeon holes that categorize which victims group or, better, groups everyone fits in.
That the publishers who were once publishers rather than servants of their particular conglomerate bosses bean counters is no surprise. Anyone who has something intelligent to write in this century is confronted with the same bottom-line for brains mentality. What we get is conventional tripe called genre books - romance, thrillers, young-adult, women's, celebrity, blah and more blah.
When you live in a vacuum that's your world. We've become but little better educated than the primitives. Richer, yes. Happier, probably not. Curious, tolerant, wise? Certainly not.
13
Regardless of the allegations, what rises to the forefront is public perception. The Public, it seems, is done with Woody Allen. He may not have married his former partner, but they and their children were structured as a family unit. While not illegal to marry his "stepchild", it is beyond acceptable to do it after living as a family unit in the eyes of others. And the incomprehensible view that he saw his former "stepchild" as now a relationship opportunity to court is, um.... yucky. The allegations of sexual misconduct with his own child also render him questionable to us. And you have to imagine two such instances in one family not both being credible when one is actually presented before us? If you ask to be in the limelight, use personal material to continue that center of attention in your self absorbed work, all is fair. What you do and what you stand for do matter. The country turned on "Lucky Lindy" too. That's how it goes.
13
Brilliant and talented people can be monsters, too. Just ask their families, who make the sacrifices so the brilliant monster can exist. The problem in the Farrow house was that the monster took it all one step too far.
6
Btw, NYT, your statement that Michael Caine won't work with Woody Allen is out of date and incorrect. He has since changed his mind.
In a Rolling Stone interview in January, 2019, Caine was asked:
What would you do if you were offered a role in a new movie of his?
"If he had a trial and someone proved he had done something, I wouldn’t do it. No. But I didn’t read of him being on trial and being found guilty or fined or sent to prison or anything. This is all things that people say. You can’t go on hearsay the whole time."
17
Maybe it was the memoir title Woody proposed didn't match publisher expectations. It wasn't "Forever Tarnished".
Mia Farrow admits to an affair with Sinatra during the time she was with Allen that resulted in her son Ronan, which she never told Allen about. He has been cleared of charges by a court no less and not one female actor who has worked with Allen has ever accused him of inappropriate conduct. He has two daughters of his own with Soon Yi, and has lived quietly making films. His comments about Cosby aside, which were not only tone deaf but either ignorant or clueless, the vilification of this filmmaker is grossly unjustified.
23
I’ve read hundreds of these comments.
Still working through them.
I’m also reading Moses Farrow’s “A Son Speaks Out”
This is the authoritative thing to read, the last word on this…
http://mosesfarrow.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-son-speaks-out-by-moses-farrow.html
……
It is clear that Mia Farrow behaved despicably and perniciously.
What a bad history she has, too, to understate things, pre-Woody Allen, and with this, too.
……
At bottom, the only complaint one can be left re WA is with “Inter-generational relationships.” Stigmatized, to be sure (ask Bill Maher), but that alone.
But If WA and Soon-Yi are (still) happy, who are we to weigh in. Is it any of our business? Who are we even to comment? Don’t we all have our own problems?
There is this, too:
Woody Allen’s former lovers have no complaints about him – even w their own break-ups.(!)
……
His body of work is vast. Some of his movies, to me, are just so incredibly brilliant and iconic. Some I do not favor as much. But what a large body of work! Much to be said, just for that.
But isn’t this all subjective?
There is no authority, nor certitude to be had about art.
We like a work of art, or we don’t.
……
Don’t buy his memoirs.
But he should not be blacklisted over this.
15
@Esoteric Eric
The blacklist involved the government pressuring private companies to deprive artists of their work. There is no government involvement in this case. It is private companies making a decision that publishing his book would more harmful then any possible profits. If Allen would lower his price I have no doubt that some non major publisher would take the plunge. Or he could self publish, he has the means to do it. The comparison to the blacklist artist of the McCarthy era doesn't hold water. Those artists had little to no options. Woody has plenty of choices.Self publish and keep the bulk of the profits.
2
@Esoteric Eric
sigh … he has not been black listed. You might want to look up the word.
4
Hollywood has always supported Roman Polanski, who was guilty of rape if a minor and awaiting sentencing when he fled to France. Harrison Ford flew Polanski's Oscar to him when he couldn't accept it in person at the academy awards.
No one wanted to believe Bill Crosby was a serial rapist.
What is happening now is the Metoo movement. It has become unfashionable (if not lethal to your career) to support the bad behavior of powerful men who are used to doing as they please, without consequences for their actions.
Woody Allen has joined the list of famous, rich men who no longer can use their professional legacy, power or money to escape their faith.
5
Woody Allen did a very disgusting thing he courted a teenager that was under his influence as he was the companion of Mia FARROW. The then adopted teenager Soon Yi had to show obedience to the man of the house and he used this power to court her when she was not of legal age then to become her lover when she came into legal age to have a lover and them married her. That is very, very disgusting and one of the foundations of the metoo movement which is fighting against men who abuse their power to harass or sleep with women. The article is incomplete. To keep thing clear I was a huge fan of Woody Allen but Now I think he should have gone to jail because he abused his powers
7
$3 million wasn't enough for an advance on his memoirs in 2003? Oi vey.
4
For those unfamiliar with self-publishing on Amazon, here's a link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?ie=UTF8&ld=AZFooterSelfPublish&ref_=footer_publishing&topic=200260520
It's easy. And you can keep 70% of the royalties. Give it a try! You've got at least one book inside your head: let it out.
(One thing that hasn't been mentioned much here is the Ronan Farrow/Frank Sinatra relationship. Ronan looks like his father and like John Farrow, Mia's father).
6
I would suggest that before commenting, commenters see Woody Allen in the back-to-the-future movie "The Front", especially those to whom the House Un-American Activities Committee, Sen. Joe McCarthy, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, blacklists, and the repression of the Sixties are just history.
How little things change over time. The players, yes, the dynamics, not so much.
2
Once again, the artist disappoints his admirers. Why can't they lead an ordinary life like the rest of us once the stage lights are turned off?
1
How many great artists have indulged in questionable behavior? Answer: probably many. But the art should be kept separate from the artist. Did Shakespeare ever behave inappropriately? Thankfully we don't know. If we found out he did, would his works end up banned?
6
@Bob in NM
Interesting. You're under the impression someone is suggesting banning Woody Allen's movies or books?
4
I saw him on a talk show or something way way before his personal life broke out the news of his "younger" lover and he was so arrogant and self righteous I said I would never forward money to him via the theaters or even on TV.
I have never seen one of his movies and I doubt I ever will. He has made my list of never, ever.
4
I think that if Michael Jackson were alive, even in the wake of "Leaving Neverland," publishers would jump at a memoir by him. So there may be a certain irrelevance to Woody Allen at this point; there certainly isn't a vast fan base willing to passionately defend him any more, like the one Jackson has. Innocent or guilty, dead or alive, neither man will ever be able to reclaim his good name.
3
as controversial as woody Allen is, you can’t argue with the fact he has had (so far) a long lasting successful marriage and raised two children with his wife.
6
You do know this marriage you speak of is also the reason many people have turned their backs on Allen . He married the adopted daughter of his girlfriend. She grew up amidst that relationship.
3
You can be a weirdo or a creep without being a criminal - those are two very different things. Conversely, the majority of pedophiles come across as very sweet-and-charming, run-of-the-mill, "normal" looking and acting, devoted to their family or patients (Nassar) or church (priests) kind of guys. Stop equating "weirdo" with pedo.
10
I can't help but see this as mass hysteria among the hive mind. Nothing matters except how people react too something. If they react strongly, action is taken. But there is no requirement beyond that. During the Salem Witch trials it wasn't so much that people were being accused of witchcraft - it was that suddenly a tight knit community became afflicted with mass hysteria so that they began questioning people they knew their entire lives. Nothing has changed in this story except how people react to it. I wish there was one brave publisher to push back on this. And though I believe Dylan believes she was molested, Woody Allen is clearly not a child molester. His preference was clearly for young WOMEN not children.
7
Well, he had a good run.
I wouldn’t have been in the audience for his book, but I’m still grateful to #metoo for setting me free from having to pretend to care. Allen was a man of his time, and that time is over. I’m finding no shortage of books to read, and while I do have trouble finding new non-superhero movies to watch, it’s nice that Allen is no longer taking up space in that medium.
3
Remember Annie Hall? A middle-aged man with a girlfriend in high school. The character raised the question of morality, but it was ultimately acceptable because he acknowledged that it was wrong, and felt mildly guilty about it. All is forgiven under the aegis of guilt.
He said, at the inception of his affair with Soon Yi, that "the heart wants what the heart wants." More self-serving narcissism. All that means is, "I'll do whatever I feel like doing; I don't care about the ethical component."
I don't know the truth about the sexual abuse; molestation leaves no physical evidence, and is impossible to prove. But there is nothing in his films or personal life that suggest he is incapable of indulging himself if he felt like it.
10
I see so much concern in the comments here for Mr. Allen, but what real harm has befallen him? He is unable to convince a publisher to pay him millions of dollars for a book? So what? He is a very rich man, so if he really wanted his fans to read his memoir he could self-publish without issue. All Woody Allen fans are still able to consume his art without interference. No one has a right to, or should expect, complete public approval. Especially someone who has engaged in actions that may be considered morally dubious.
17
I wonder how many if any of Woody Allen's rabidly defensive fanbase have read the full 32 page court decision on this topic. I have and I was appalled, it makes it clear this man is a predator of little girls. I encourage everyone to read it in lieu of his no doubt self aggrandizing memoirs.
15
This is repression at its worst. Where will it stop? When will it stop? How much damage is being done? We now have a very good feel for what it was like at the height of McCarthyism. When Due Process fails, we all fail. To those publishers who passed: Shame on you. Shame on you.
6
There's a movie in all this.
1
The less we know about Woody Allen, the better.
6
I like some of Woody Allen's movies and the pieces he’s written for the New Yorker. He’s very talented. That said, I do find the allegations against him plausible because he married someone so much younger and his stepdaughter at that. To me, that suggests a certain pathology that extends beyond the typical celebrity marriages with older men marrying much younger women. It’s a shame that so many very talented people succumb to nefarious impulses.
5
@ArtIsWork
Got a credible citation to support your claim that Soon Yi is Woody's "stepdaughter?"
8
He'll have to publish in France, following in the long tradition of many other books that couldn't find a publisher in the US like Lolita for example.
4
After rethinking my own reactions after reading some comments and reading Moses farrow's account, I'm among those - the few maybe - who thinks Woody Allen IS most likely innocent of the allegations that he molested Dylan.
And that Mia Farrow might be or have been quite unstable emotionally. And unsuited to raising fourteen -- 14 -- children, even with nannies.
Woody's choice to have a relationship - an adult, sexual relationship - with her adopted daughter remains a nutty, egocentric decision for an adult man - one who knew his girlfriend as well as anyone, and thus would have understood that she would be crazy with feelings of betrayal. Of all the girls ( not women) in the world -- Soon Yi? Could it be that some one who spent so much time on movies which looked closely at relationships could be that blind - or that indifferent?
But I do think that he and Soon Yi have a right to their lives.
As to what his memoir is worth, that's a wholly different issue, as is the Amazon deal.All about perceptions: Corporate perceptions of public perceptions, all based more on headlines and innuendo. which is what celebrity is about.
12
Okay, so Woody Allen married a much younger woman and Mia Farrow was no doubt angered and hurt. That doesn't make him a creep or a predator. Don't forget that Mia Farrow married Frank Sinatra when the two were well over a generation apart.
17
I find this very sad.
First I find it sad for Woody Allen. He is certainly weird, but that is part of what made him such a unique artist.
I loved so many of his films when I was young. He was the misfit, antithesis to all the confident, macho, handsome 6-foot male stars, whose treatment of women was far worse by today's standards than most of what Mr. Allen did in his films - even though in Mr. Allen's films there was a very intentional irony which commentators today seem determined to miss.
The women in his movies were intelligent and thoughtful.
It seems like finally his lack of conventionality is coming back to haunt him, in a way that it will never come back to haunt actors who actually mistreated and disrespected women on screen.
His films, once classics of comedy, are now being mined for evidence of perversion as if they were documentaries. How chilling is this for any artists who might choose to do something original??
Second, I am sorry for #metoo. This should not be what #metoo is about.
This is not a predator. He is alleged to have committed one offence - even actors who have now rejected him (for their own PR needs) have not claimed further assaults. There was no pattern of bad behavior. Investigation at the time said it did not happen, at least, not as the victim claimed. This was not an adult reporting a rape, this was the likely-coached testimony of a 7-year-old girl, whose embittered mother, as an actress, would know how to coach credible testimony.
22
I'd read it twice.
5
The sheer volume of misinformation; inattention to facts; inaccurate opinions (relative to facts); ignorance about movies; ignorance about the *already settled* facts regarding Allen's life, his movies, and the accusations made agaist him in nothing short of stunning.
What I see written here that condemns Allen looks like the writing of Trump supporters who tear into Hillary Clinton with nary *one* fact at their disposal.
Woody Allen will eventually find a publisher, and his book will do well. Also, many of his movies will live on as great pieces of film.
All that said, I am still amazed at how Mia Farrow has managed to slip away from investigation on all of this. One of her own stepchildren - a therapist - has written about her cruelty and manipulations and coaching of her children. The psychologica consultants who looked into the accusations against Allen pointedly said that in their professional opinion that Dylan Farrow was coached to create a lie about Mr. Allen. It's well known that a child can be led to lie in this way (there have been famous cases where people were jailed based on such coached lies) - and, that said coached memories can live on as "real" in the minds of the coached victim.
Mia Farrow should be investigated for child abuse, and for fraudulent accusations against Mr. Allen. One thing for sure, Mia Farrow will be forgotten; she's a minor talent. Woody Allen's work and life will live on and his reputation will continue to rise.
19
Maybe this depends on whether you think he's a sleaze like Kavanaugh or not. (I do.) At any rate there's no doubt he's a snob. He can get his views out. He obviously has repeatedly. The NYT itself published this story. And he could get it published if he didn't snobbily insist on the most elite (elitist?) publishing houses & just as many would read & review it. Or he could privately publish it by Amazon's publisher Lake Union as so many have to do, and many still get in bestseller terrain. It appears he won't publish it this way but only on his own elitist snobby terms. Now my opinion of him is lower than ever.
And this isn't a trial. If elite publishers choose to think he's like Kavanaugh too, they have every right to. He doesn't have a privileged entitled self-evident right for them to have to publish him. And as I noted, there are many ways he could get it published but is too much of an elitist & snob, & apparently would rather whine to the Times, which apparently can be yet another platform for his views, unlike yours or mine.
8
Publish it in Italy. I will translate it for free.
9
What about the McMartin day care satanic sex scandal? Just because a little kid says something happened, doesn't always mean it's true.
13
At least the public will be spared yet another memoir. Everyone seems to think that his or her autobiography is the most remarkable one - after having read two, I think I can very well pass on all the rest of these reveal-everything-and-hope-for-sympathy things.
5
@CMD
That's what the Church said about Galileo. The public will be spared yet another scientific theory.
1
I think that if Allen would move to Europe and publish here his memoir he would have no problem at all. Me too just isn’t yet that prominent here (and maybe it will never be, I suspect)
4
As noted, Soon Yi Previn was not Allen's daughter in any sense of the word. Still, even readers of Times are misinformed about this issue. Regrettably, once we form strong opinions (based on erroneous information), confirmation bias ensures we will be selectively attuned to new data that confirms our existing perspective. So it goes.
As a mental health professional, I have long regarded Dylan Farrow's allegations as suspect.
The Child Abuse Center at Yale investigated this case and concluded that no abuse occurred. In reaction, there were the inevitable efforts to discredit their report.
Second, unless you imagine Allen to be a perfect fool,
why would he choose (on one occasion!) to 'abuse' his daughter- as a custody battle was unfolding. There were no accusations prior to this episode, and none in the 25+ years since.
Finally (and this is a delicate matter), Dylan Farrow's assertion that she has endured lifelong trauma from this single incident is strange indeed. No, I am not minimizing the harm of childhood sexual abuse; I am saying this is an almost forgettable incident. The fact that a single alleged incident has taken on such disproportionate importance points to other factors, specifically, the mother's role in this unrelenting attack on Allen's character.
We do this time and again. Charlie Chaplin married Oona O'Neill when she was eighteen. They had a very good marriage, but Hollywood was horrified. Chaplin was in exile for twenty years.
16
Publishing houses weren't interested. Fine, pitch it again, at a lower price. Potential readers are out there.
4
Apparently Allen's infamous years-long psychoanalysis has not helped him overcome his outsized ego or his underdeveloped maturity. If he'd grow up and take a little responsibility for his actions (ie, married his step daughter; his obsession with too young and/or underage girls) the public might be more interested in what he has to say as an artist. In 'Annie Hall' his character tells Annie how a relationship is like a shark, it dies if it stops moving. Mr. Allen should take heed of his own philosophizing, his relationship with the public is dead because he stopped 'moving' growing as an artist or a person. Watching or reading about someone with arrested development is not very interesting, it's just sad.
4
@Ellen S.
It wasn't his step daughter, it was his girlfriend's daughter. If you think he has an obsession with young girls, what do you make of Charlie Chaplin or Jerry Lee Lewis or Will Durant or the many other celebrities who married teen age girls when they were grown men?
8
@brooklyn, many of us think all these men were creeps.
5
@brooklyn
Or Elvis.
2
Yet another "fake" thing Americans believe (along with if you work hard enough you can be anything, and social mobility): you are innocent until proven guilty. Other than accusations thrown at him by Mia Farrow, there is nothing to prove he did anything wrong. Yet Allen (and many others) lost millions of dollars and their reputations on mere accusations. You may disapprove of his marriage to Soon-Yi but that is on you and your judgement. But Americans love their myths - gets them through the day. So here we are.
14
Marrying your step-daughter is not relatively wrong it’s universally recognized as wrong.
5
This is an embarrassment to the publishing industry, as is this article’s assumption that it is book or movie deals that measure a life. Ugh.
3
Someone will certainly publish this memoir eventually, maybe posthumously. But everything I want to know about Woody Allen, good and bad, is in his movies - some of which are excellent. After a string of duds, mostly rehashs of better older films, I stopped watching. But even when I did, I didn' like his depictions of women. The reality for actresses, though, is that a Woody Allen film always has meaty parts for women.
3
He molested her. Period. It’s incredibly unlikely for his daughter to fabricate such details and to retain adamancy into adulthood. Give her your condolences.
8
@Linked
On the contrary, it's in adulthood when false childhood memories solidify into false facts.
9
@Jonathan
Not if they have been retained all along...
I believe you Dylan Farrow.
The publishers who rejected his manuscript aren’t moralists; they’re temperature-takers. Woody Allen’s moment in the sun is over. Yes, some of his films were brilliant. But even his most ardent fans (and I was one of them) can’t deny that many of his films and books are full of sexist, lewd and downright creepy depictions of young girls and relationships between old men and young girls.
It’s time for new voices, jokes, perspectives and stories — on paper and the big screen.
13
Always enjoyed his work. Have follow this for years, the accusations against him don’t pass the smell test, not only because of Mia Farrows odd behaviors, but his ex kids.
8
Woody Allen is the classic example of White privilege. A non-White man, particularly Black man accused of such scurrilous and largely credible allegations would have been prosecuted decades ago.
7
Why believe him? Because we used to like or admire his movies?
What used to be “he said, she said” has met its match in #metoo, where formerly admired assaulters and rapists, like Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Les Moonves and so many others (can’t list or remember them all), faced their reckonings and lost fame and fortune. Because victims could finally be heard - and believed.
The Woody-Mia story is ugly and complicated. Yet Woody Allen repeatedly told us who he is. There is the creepiness of his repeated stories of older men preying on young women. There’s the creepiness of his marrying his partner Mia’s adopted, barely legal, 19 year old daughter. Not legal proof, but room for doubt of his respect for any girl or woman.
Do I “believe” the man who has shown us who he is? I want proof, not “belief”. We may never know the truth.
I give 7 year old and grownup Dylan the benefit of the doubt. And for now, so did the publishers.
8
I'm renting a Woody Allen movie tonight.
You should, too.
This is disgusting. Mr. Allen has not only not been convicted of anything, he hasn't even been charged of anything!
Shame on these publishing houses who are supposed to represent freedom.
Mr. Allen can self publish this thing and sell millions of copies.
10
So?
How were females portrayed in the movie you rented?
3
Publishing houses are businesses, they do not “represent freedom”. You’re thinking of the press, which does.
If a publisher does not believe a book will sell or if they think it will cause a backlash, they have zero obligations to publish it.
3
Ah, New Yorkers. You love Woody Allen and his films. I have to say that the films speak for themselves - the man had a thing for underage girls. Do I want to read about this is a memoir? Not so much.
11
Woody Allen... relic of a bygone era.
I’m glad no one is printing his memoir!
And these folks mentioning Roman Polanski, and even Pablo Picasso, etc.
Polanski (brilliant film maker) but is a rapist of a 13 yo girl and a coward who didn’t face the charges and ran away. I don’t watch his movies.
Picasso despite his genius, after reading his detailed biographies, was a truly nasty, misogynistic man whose partners either committed suicide or lost their minds except for one woman! He never had any remorse. I simply walk past his paintings. I haven’t suffered any intellectual lapse. Thousands of other artists to learn from.
Just as I don’t listen to Michael Jackson’s songs anymore.
I believe that despite exoneration by courts, we all observe and analyze behaviour, speech, mannerisms—his movies are a huge reflection of his mindset— subconsciously and come to a decision inwardly.
It’s our gut instinct.
The choices of what to see and what to avoid, we all make them on a personal level.
No one can tell me or you, to do otherwise.
Those who believe in him- you’re welcome to his vapidness.
9
N.Y. publishers are notoriously feminist, Woody should forget them and self-publish on Amazon and see what happens.
This reminds me of a parody rejection letter from a fictitious feminist publisher that Wendy Wasserstein wrote for the NYTBR in 1994:
Mr. John Austin Chawton, Hampshire
Dear Mr. Austin:
Thank you for sending us your manuscript of "Price and Prejudice." Our policy is not to accept unsolicited manuscripts. However, one of our readers was intrigued by your title, hoping for a Marxist study of racism. She was appalled, however, to find its real contents. Mr. Austin, where is it universally acknowledged that "a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife"? Furthermore, would an entire town go into a frenzy because of the arrival of two eligible bachelors?
The women of age in your novel are meddling nuisances and the younger women calculating ninnies. More distressing, the only self-actualized woman subverts her wit and intelligence for the love of an arrogant aristocrat.
Mr. Austin, stick to polar explorers, westerns and the Napoleonic war and leave the women to women writers. The price we pay for your prejudice is far too high.
3
The demonization of Woody Allen continues apace.
A relevant fact, rarely if ever mentioned in the media or by the ill-informed busybodies who insist Woody married his stepdaughter or adoptive daughter (Soon-Yi was neither): Woody has made more than 50 films over his long career, one of the most prolific in the history of the movies. In the course of writing, producing and acting in this long list of films, he has hired hundreds of actresses, and has certainly auditioned many hundreds, perhaps thousands, more.
And yet - despite his supposed moral turpitude and "creepiness", not a single actress has come forward to accuse him of abuse, molestation, sexual indiscretion, or even casting-couch flirtation. Through his long years in the movie business, his conduct towards women has been exemplary. Given the huge number of accusations against powerful Hollywood men that have arisen, sometimes many years after the fact, in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement and the Weinstein scandals, Woody's professional behaviour around women has been notably blameless.
If he were really such a "creep", wouldn't this have been an issue in his working life at some point over the past 50 years?
21
This is sad.
I’m a woman and I wholeheartedly support the MeToo movement. But I’ve not for once believed Mia Farrow’s allegations.
Yes, it’s clear that Woody likes young women, but he’s not a pedophile. And the Yale-New Haven Hospital Child Sex Abuse Clinic’s finding was that Dylan had not been sexually molested.
But it seems facts don’t matter these days.
17
Misandry and misogyny, two equally repugnant evils, seem to be the dominant mental illnesses reflected in many of the comments on Woody Allen. Quite unfortunate, because many of these folks miss the point of Allen's work, it brought a certain comedic lightness to these problems, and actually is fairly even handed, if you look with an unprejudiced eye.
7
In this comments section there are several hostile mentions of older-man-younger-woman relationships - Allen and Soon Yi, Allen's and Mariel Hemingway's relationship. I would remind readers that in the 1960s, Mia Farrow was 19 and Frank Sinatra was 50 when they married.
15
Unless someone unconnected to Mia comes forth with credible allegations, Woody has my support. I think the actors and publishers who are shunning him now are simply spineless.
9
I would buy it and read it.
Come on, publishers: print it!
This man is innocent of the insane, outrageous charges, and there are many of us who think so.
5
We live in the age of the Great Smear. The accusation is now the conviction. Even though two(!!!) prosecutors found no basis of truth in Mia Farrow's stories, and even though Soon-Yee's siblings, or at least some of them, said Mia was a liar, the slanders against Woody Allen have been repeated enough times that people believe them.
And who is Miss Farrow to be portrayed by the press as an innocent victim? This is a woman who had an affair with Andre Previn, while Mr. Previn's wife was pregnant with twins.
This is a phenomena found throughout our society. Harvey Weinstein was beloved by Hollywood and called a G-d until the media decided he wasn't. Emails showing that many of the accusations against him were false were barely reported. No, it was the accusation itself that is trumpeted.
This is true in the political world. Most of the stories about President Trump are blatantly false, but corrections and retractions are mumbled, while the falsehoods are spoken through a megaphone. One need not be a Republican or a Trump fan to note the danger to society at large of a trial by gossip.
The Salem Witch Hunt and the Communist Witch Hunts are not history. They are part of today's America. The past is always prologue.
6
"Dylan Farrow has long alleged that he sexually abused her when she was a child"
And Allen's other kid says Dylan is lying and it never happened. But for some reason everyone has decided that what he says doesn't matter.
I think this is really sad. He was cleared of the charges Mia leveled against him in a rage over 20 years ago, and her malice knows no limits. 3 adopted children dead from suicide.
She is toxic and vengeful.
8
Meanwhile, 'True Crime' podcasts are booming.
You can see the lie in the second paragraph. Woody Allen did not 'molest' his daughter. She was not his daughter in any way, and she was old enough to make decisions for herself. The attempt to destroy this genius is disgusting.
5
The advice I would give Woody Allen is to have his memoir translated into French and published in France.
3
I hope Netflix makes his movies.
4
Woody is a national treasure and great artist and it’s time for the ridiculous innuendo to stop. So he dated and married Soon Yi, the adult daughter of his former girlfriend. So what!!!
He was accused of molesting his daughter in the middle of a supervised visit with lots of people there. Lots of experts investigated two court cases and judges have completed cleared him of any wrongdoing. Move on people! We know Mia is bitter, it’s only natural...It’s human nature. Mia’s own son admitted that her sister was brainwashed into saying what happened. Moses was there, and had the bravery to come out. If we want to crucify Woody for dating and later marrying his ex’s adopted daughter, then why doesn’t the public start attacking Julian Schnabel for dating and then marrying his sons girlfriend??
There are many cases of this twisted kind of family swaps. It’s crazy and ridiculous, but their private lives have nothing to do with their art. The #metoo movement needs to stop attacking people officially cleared of wrongdoing and realize they are creating a new class of victims, the ones created by mid hysteria.
9
Woody (Allan Konigsberg) should just fold up and go away, in disgrace.
He’s an embarrassment to everyone around him.
2
I have no interest in his life, but why doesn't he just do what a lot of other rejected writers do and self-publish? He should've grabbed the $3 million contract when he had the chance. Ooops.
1
Allen may or may not be a criminal, but he IS a creep.
No, he was not married to Mia nor did they live together. Nevertheless, they were in a long term relationship.
Many of us are either married to or in long term relationships with people who have children by previous marriages/ relationships. Especially when we've known our partners' children for many years and spent a lot of time with them from their childhood, we wouldn't think of dating one of them!
It would be grossly creepy - as well as a despicable betrayal of the partner - and traumatic and disruptive to the partner's other kids.
As for those claiming there was no family-type relationship between Mia's kids and Woody: those of us who live in NY and saw Woody and Mia together with her many kids numerous times can tell you, that was a family. Maybe not a traditional one, but a family.
One more thing: years before the Woody-Soon Yi scandal, a friend's son who was friendly with some of Mia's kids noticed how Woody was constantly touching Soon Yi, for example, with his hand on her knee, in a way he found disturbing. He would do this in front of the kids, but when Mia's back was turned or she was out of the room.
Soon Yi was in her mid-teens at the time.
4
This is a difficult call. When I think about others, like Roman Polanski or Michael Jackson who were accused of disturbing and/or criminal acts, it's difficult to ignore Woody Allen's alledged wrongdoing.
In each case, I'm not sure "degrees" of the allegations matter specific to whose behavior was more egregious when taking into account the contributions these men made in the entertainment world. Their work has historical relevance, and will not be abscounded.
In regard to Allen, no one knows for certain the truth about the claims against him except the partiies involved. For this reason, as troubling as the alledged accusations may be, I'd read Allen's memior. Why? Because he is a brilliant film director.
*My favorite earlier Woody Allen film was Interiors. My favorite recent Allen film was Blue Jasmine.
I suspect a publisher will sign Allen when the (political) timing is right.
3
“...Publishers are skittish about working with authors accused of sexual misconduct...”
The troubling word here is “accused.” We live in an era when to be “accused” means one should be shunned, punished, rejected, censured,etc.
Am I defending Allen? No. Do I think he’s guilty? I don’t know.
But I am disturbed by our cultural embrace of “allegations” as something requiring punishment.
7
I, for one, would like to read Woody Allen's memoir.
7
“...allegations that Allen denies and that have left Americans unsure whom to believe”
Really? Why was there no mention in this early point in the story that he has been investigated by two states for the alleged assault and no basis for charges were found.
11
Considering that he's been repeating himself in his films and prose for a number of years Allen did much better in life that his talent warrented. I dont understand what the fuss is all about, in truth he should have been irrelevant a long time ago. RIP Woody.
3
It's too bad Woody Allen the individual is so controversial. His films have been mostly well received and many comedic classics that I have enjoyed. Too many film industry artists are dark personal lives where sex and drugs coupled with many illegal activities govern their lives. The average person cannot relate to these wildly successful people who are so dysfunctional whether it's true or not in Woody's case, the general public does not want to support those that may have done in their lives that are totally unacceptable in society. No exceptions.
Why aren't Woody Allen and Mel Gibson treated like Bill Cosby?
2
@Blackmamba, because neither Woody Allen nor Mel Gibson have been convicted of drugging and raping women while the women were incapacitated and/or unconscious.
Allen and Gibson are creeps - and Gibson is a racist, anti-Semite, abuser, and a drunk - but neither has been proven to have committed any felonies.
4
It’s terrible to think that Woody Allen’s film legacy would suffer because of the sordid revelations of his personal life. He made some iconic films, “Hannah and Her Sisters” being my favorite, which should be screened from now and forever because they illuminate the human spirit.
5
Woody may not have lived in Mia and Soon-Yi’s house, but they certainly lived close by. From an old NYT article on Woody and Mia:
“Their apartments face each other across Central Park. When they began to date, they would wave towels out the window as they spoke on the phone, delighting in saying they could see the other.
"It's sort of like just enough," Allen explains one day in his Fifth Avenue apartment ... I have all the free time I want and it's quiet over here, and yet I get plenty of action over there.”
Even if nothing happened until Soon-Yi became of legal age, and no laws were broken, it’s all still seems creepy and exploitative. I’d pass on his memoir too.
8
I goofed in my previous post regarding relationships between older men and younger women. I meant to say that in the movie "Manhattan," Allen's character is 42 and Mariel Hemingway's character (his girlfriend) is 17. The two did not have a relationship in real life (as far as I know!)
But it bears remembering that Mia Farrow was 19 when she married the 50-year-old Frank Sinatra in the 1960s.
8
Having endured enough of his film work to see his talents have faded considerably, I don’t mourn his decline in the film world. My feelings are mixed on his apparently being blackballed in the publishing world. Perhaps he should do as I have done and self-publish his writing. There are plenty of outlets for self-publishing now, and it can be profitable very quickly for the author. If people want to read something, these days they don’t seem to care if it has the approval of a publishing house.
2
I would read a Woody Allen memoir. I think he should have his manuscript edited, perhaps by two different editors, and then he should rewrite it, have it edited it again, rewrite, and then self publish on the internet.
Far more valuable to posterity and to the movies would be for Woody Allen to write his own version of Jerry Lewis's "The Total Filmmaker". Woody likes to make his films and then move on. He has not written down how and why he does what he does to make films. He does not like that type of self reflection, but it would be useful to future filmmakers, in a big way.
3
It will be a shame if Woody Allen is incapable of selling an autobiography because, decades from now, it will become vitally important to the history of cinema.
The populace being irate and taking action (or inaction in this case) over whatever current "cause célèbre" there currently is is one thing, but if it jeopardizes the future, that's a crime inflicted on future generations.
9
What I find fascinating about all of this is that if you wanted to craft a Hollywood "happy ending" to this story, you would...
1. Have the alleged perpetrator never touch another child (there are no allegations that he has).
2. Have the marriage between the much older man and the much younger woman last at least a couple of decades, appear to be happy, and have them raise two children together.
3. Have the alleged victim of the single instance of inappropriate touching or child molestation live a happy and productive life with many opportunities to tell her story.
It seems all of these things have happened, so what's next?
17
I would suggest that before commenting, commenters see Woody Allen in the back-to-the-future movie "The Front", especially those to whom the House Un-American Activities Committee, Sen. Joe McCarthy, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, blacklists, and the repression of the Sixties are just history.
How little things change over time. The players, yes, the dynamics, not so much.
10
@Steve Fankuchen, "The Front" is a brilliant and important film, and Allen is excellent in it. It's worth mentioning here, however, that he neither wrote nor directed it.
2
@Noah Vale
Noah, thanks for engaging here!
I only mentioned Allen was in "The Front" because of the irony given the current situation.
1
He can just publish it on the internet for free. So much for a memoir! This is the age of womens liberation, and misogyny has no place for their progressiveness.
1
Mia Farrow should be held responsible for destroying her daughter’s life and slandering Woody Allen. The media has totally failed to report this situation fairly. Woody Allen is obviously innocent. If you want to see how serial sexual predators behave? Look at Donald Trump.
Bottom line: Allen is a great artist. None of this trashy media circus will mean anything in the long run. Too bad he has to suffer through it. But it’s indicative of our times when someone like Trump is president and someone like Woody Allen is dragged through the mud.
58
Oh, for pete's sake. I bought and read Hillary Clinton's account of the 2016 campaign the day it was published. I will pre-order Donald Trump's (ghost-written) memoir, much as I would hate to give him even one penny. And I would be happy to buy and read Woody Allen's account of his career in comedy and film. Nobody's perfect.
8
One fact is undeniable. Virtually no child molesters molest only once. It’s unheard of in the psychiatric literature. There had never been such an accusation against Allen until then, and there have been none since. However strange a man he may be, however odd it is that he made movies about dating younger women (which is a far cry from child molesting), none of that bears on this case. The odds of Alan having molested his daughter are so low as to be nil.
Of all the journalism on this story, one recent piece stands out. If you can read this and think Allen is guilty of anything other than being strange, then politics has replaced judgment and the #metoo movement has warped our culture beyond redemption.
https://medium.com/@levine2001/the-woody-allen-controversy-reader-why-maureen-orths-10-undeniable-facts-about-the-woody-allen-5f26791c15a0
42
Dylan Farrow was seven, never showed any fear of Allen at the time and always was happy to see him. Mia Farrow brought up the charge only when Woody left her. What we may think of the relationship between him and Soon-Yi is besides the point. I followed this at the time and believe that Mia Farrow, is extremely angry and vindictive and painted a picture for her child that became visually real over time. Dylan Farrow has been used, not by Woody but by Mia who has sacrificed her child in vengeance.
72
Sixty years from now - historians will view the current #metoo hysteria much in the way present-day historians talk about the McCarthy "Red Scare" era of the late 1940's through the 1950's - when the careers of talented and important writers, directors, actors and artists were essentially ruined --
When they publish books about this current wave - people like Woody Allen will have entire chapters devoted to their story - bemoaning how a directorial genius was vilified at the end of his career -- and how "Those people back then" - (meaning us) - could have allowed something like that to happen...
23
@Howard G - Says the man who has never faced sexual harassment.
12
@Howard G, so you think a serial rapist and abuser such Weinstein will be exonerated by history 60 years from now? If so, THAT would be a gross injustice. What about the many women whose careers he destroyed and who were traumatized by his sexual assaults?
The Red Scare was a political scare tactic of a particular time, used for political gain the way Trump and conservatives constantly rail against immigrants and characterize all immigrants as dangerous criminals.
Sexual harassment, coercion, assault, and rape have existed for all of human history. Every woman I know has experienced one or more of these. The MeToo movement is about women finally raising their voices about it - and saying "no more"!
60 years from now, MeToo will be seen much the way the Civil Rights movement is seen by most people today: as a righteous movement toward justice.
1
Half his films are unwatchable and can barely be distinguished from each other.
Allen holds the record for redundancy films.
8
Dart, Actors in his films, both male and female, have won more Academy Awards and more Academy Award nominations than those working for any other director. I feel quite sure that you were not aware of this fact.
5
@Dart I dunno. All the Marvel and DC superhero movies seem pretty much the same. That goes for the "Fast and Furious," "Die Hard," and every other series that moviegoers seem to flock to. Lots of real artists in different fields seem to have movies, novels, paintings, sculptures, ballets, poems, plays that seem to go over the same themes, plots, characters again and again, to good effect -- in films, Hitchcock, Bergman. Fellini, Truffaut, Rohmer, and other directors (many of whom were terrible to women, or just not nice people).
Our brains seem to default to dichotomous thinking regarding complicated issues. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here. If you like Woody's artistic offerings, and can appreciate them irrespective of what you might think of his real life "crimes and misdemeanors", hooray. If your response to his behavior precludes your enjoyment of his work, so be it. Publishers are interested in selling books, and if they sense that public opinion will render a certain author's book an economic loss, then they won't publish it. If they think that a particular controversy will result in high interest and high sales, then they will publish it. I'm hoping that everyone involved will eventually heal from their wounds and feel whole.
To the publishers who turned down Woody Allen’s memoir: I would’ve bought that book.
5
I would suggest that before commenting, commenters see the movie "The Front", especially those to whom the House Un-American Activities Committee, Sen. Joe McCarthy, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, and the repression of the Sixties are just history.
How little things change, the players, yes, the dynamics, not so much.
2
There is absolutely nothing 'progressive' or forward-thinking about the moral censorship of an artist's self-expression in (almost) any form. Those who would wish to see someone like Woody Allen's memoirs denied publication, however bad his crimes and even if one assumes his guilt, are akin to the puritanical prohibitionists of old and are worthy of serious critique and contempt by all who value free artistic and intellectual expression.
3
Sounds like you’re confusing censorship with free market capitalism. Publishers don’t have to go into business with Allen and pay him millions of dollars for publishing rights to his book if they don’t believe it will be good for business. He has plenty of money to self-publish. No one is stopping him from getting his story out there.
5
@Noah’s Ark
The point is that it is due to public moralism that an artist or intellectual who otherwise would have no trouble publishing his memoirs cannot do so; it is 21st c. puritanism. Of course it is compatible with capitalism; so is the religious right. But it is a million miles removed from any kind prioritization of the value of artistic and intellectual expression in our society, which is much of what liberalism used to be about in the days when mid 20th c. moralism dictated the same publishing realities you describe.
1
I (used to) love Woody Allen's work. I don't know what happened with his 7-year-old daughter, so I will suspend judgment on that. But I still regard it as very odd what happened with Soon-Yi, very odd indeed. I, for one, simply do not enjoy watching his films any more, and I feel I am entitled to my taste.
16
He has only one accuser - basically his ex-wife (who wielded great influence over their 7 year old daughter) and social services and the DA’s office cleared him.
Hence I believe nothing nefarious happened - other than his being falsely accused.
I have little interest in reading Allen’s memoir, but I enjoyed many of his movies, especially Annie Hall and Crimes and Misdemeanors.
7
From the looks of the man, it's a wonder he permits himself to be photographed at all.
4
"...career all but derailed by resurfaced allegations." Ahh, NYT, using the passive voice to cover your own principal role, with Ronan Farrow, in manufacturing this literal cause celebre as part of the right-wing witch-hunt, #metoo, which is undermining democratic rights in service to state interests while giving it all a fake "progressive" gloss.
Perfectly mendacious, but then, business as usual.
8
To what degree should violation of #metoo rule out public roles for the offender (not alway found guilty in the court of justice but guilty in the court of public opinion) ?
For readers able to read French, I recommend reading what Sylvie Kauffmann , editorial writer at Le Monde (France's leading newspaper) and the NY Times correspondent for France wrote yesterday in Le Monde
« La polémique entre Joe Biden et Anita Hill permet de tester les limites de #metoo »
(The polemic between Joe Biden and Anita Hll permits testing the limits of #metoo)
I hope that Ms Kaufmann soon publishes an English version in the NY Times as it is both though full and worth reading
https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2019/05/02/la-polemique-entre-joe-biden-et-anita-hill-permet-de-tester-les-limites-de-metoo_5457176_3232.html
"social media lynch mobs" cry me a river. Nobody owes Woody Allen a book deal. If after all these years and all this notoriety Woody Allen doesn't have the connections and wherewithal to self-publish a memoir, then that's his problem. If publishers refuse to pay him a pile of money for the privilege of publishing his memoir, then that's his problem. If you want to read Woody Allen's memoir, then ask him to make it available and pay him what he thinks it is worth for you to have a copy. Good luck with that.
13
Far from being “tone deaf”, Mr.Allen is one of the more nuanced filmmakers this country has produced. We all want women protected, and as such applaud the import of the Me Too movement. But this doesn’t obviate the fact that false accusations do occur, for a variety of reasons. I guess it’s the mark of a true intellectual to question and a mark of a non intellectual to consider there’s only one tone and if you don’t hear it that way, you’re just sick. Only time and history will separate the wheat from the chaff.
5
@David Higgins He wrote great parts for women when nobody else did....and very few still do!
2
I am so relieved to see most Times Pix comments support Woody Allen in this outrageous, continuous attack on him.
Of course, there’s no proof.
Of course, Mia refused a polygraph.
Of course, two different state panels allowed him to adopt children — something they never would’ve done had there been the slightest doubt at an official level that Mia’s lies and coaching of her daughter had any merit.
He’s older now and more frail but let’s hope he lives long enough to see Mia and her supporters suffer for their lies.
18
Go to France, Woody. They’ll greet you with open arms and will publish your memoirs. I’ll be the first to read them.
6
@George Haig Brewster
He did not marry his formal “adopted” child, but he was the signifying equivalent of the “stepfather” in the relationship. I have my suspicions about your post, but feel you are feeding the “but she wasn’t my biological daughter” myth. Most couples in second plus relationships have to deal with this issue.
Do you really think that it matters whether you are legally the adoptive father? No. If you choose to enter a relationship with a woman with minor children you are expected to act like an adult.
Any of you all who think otherwise are justifying “grooming” behavior that men in power, whether a priest, actor or boyfriend/step dad fall back on when confronted by the truth.
I find this feed incredibly depressing. No wonder we, as Americans, are in the midst of so many horrific pedophile scandals.
11
@H.A. Hyde He has been married to this woman going on 3 decades.
I find you incredibly depressing. People are simply correcting the rampant lies.
2
Did anyone read the NYTimes timeline of the events that occurred? Very convincing. Not guilty.
5
Funny movies for his time, which was a time when we (meaning men) enjoyed such blatant, amusing displays of awkward sexism and women laughed along, or cringed and said nothing. He would not be able to get any of his awkward-but-harmless-depressed-older loser guy-hits-on-gorgeous-jailbait formula movies produced and funded today. I can't say I am wildly interested in what ticks behind that facade.
9
Dear Mr. Allen,
It sounds as if the publishing world has sent you to Coventry, and offered the audience a window to indulge in a mud fest. You are being hounded like Blue Jasmine, but immortal you will remain to some of us.
A lot of 'pithy' comments to be found in this latest paper point match, where we are talking about ourselves, and looking forward to seeing your 'Wonder Wheel', while this admirer of your work sinks into blissful oblivion.
3
The publishers are not afraid of not being able to sell the book. They are afraid of being attacked by self-serving zealots who call themselves activists and extort american society.
4
I’m glad I heard him at Michael’s Pub many years ago. Woody Allen’s films have long been among my favorites. The #MeToo stuff is a 2019 version of the Salem witch trials of 1692. hope I live long enough to see his latest films in a saner world.
3
Note that in July 1966, Mia Farrow was 21 years old when she married singer Frank Sinatra, who was then 50...
9
He married his step daughter. Full stop.
7
@kes
For the ten billionth time, Soon-Yi was NOT his step-daughter. Full, complete and total stop.
5
"no reliable evidence" says Alfred... Yet he lives and sleeps with his daughter...
Unbelievable really. Oh, its different if they are not your blood? That is such a vile and sad concept; anyone who is a parent should be repulsed by a "parent" who now "lives" with the child they raised. There is no defense. Regardless if they had "sex" while they were "underage"
8
Nothing taints Woody Allen’s genius. Nothing.
5
Yeah, I don' t know. Mia Farrow has come out publicly saying Ronan is really Frank Sinatra's son. At the very least Farrow was a cheat and a liar and at worst committed fraud in taking child support she got under false pretenses. What else would someone like this be capable of? Coaching a young child to lie?
12
Mr. Allen was tried and found innocent of this charge many years ago. What are we doing? I guess his detractors want a verdict which aligns with their thoughts and judgments. Leave the man alone. I find this story old, sad, and without merit. Kudos to Angelica Houston and Javier Bardem who are not afraid to support and work with this accomplished professional. Really sad for the weak publishers who worry about profits, acceptance, lack of due diligence, acceptance over what occurred on a single reported episode.....makes no sense...
15
@Nancy Bucciarelli - No, Woody was not tried for child molestation, or anything else regarding Dylan Farrow or any other child. He was investigated by child welfare agencies in two states and the case was found not to merit charges at all.
3
Perhaps Woody shall follow the foot steps of many (like Twain, Poe, Atwood, King, cummings, etc) who turned to self publishing for one reason or another. Distribution will become an issue, but he can set up a website where his fans can order the book. Perhaps he can donate the proceeds to an orphanage to help the less fortunate.
1
@Abdulrahman Abdi
There would be no issue with distribution whatsoever. Those authors who choose to self-publish through Amazon's KDP are in the capable hands of the most sophisticated distributors of books (and just about everything else) on the planet.
1
One can debate the allegations against Allen with respect to molestation, but one cannot debate that he coveted and eventually became sexually involved with Farrow’s adopted daughter, who was in High School when they started hanging out and he was 50 . If that is okay with you, enjoy his art. I’ll pass.
29
@Billy Bobby. So should 16 year-olds have the right to vote?
@Jpdell odd response but no they shouldn’t. You can vote when you can die for the country in the military (18). I still have a problem denying 18 year old soldiers a beer. There is no excusing Woody’s behavior, sorry.
1
I once bought a "three pack" of Allen books, which were clearly actual unsold copies stuck together (the page numbering started over for each book). Maybe they can sell Allen's memoir in a similar way, back to back with OJ's "If I Did It"...
Jokes in poor taste aside, I tend to believe the accused, and yet if Allen's book were a good one, I think it would be better for the world to have access to it than that it not be seen. Even if it were full of lies, that can help us to understand him (just as we understand more about Trump from his ghostwritten Art of the Deal).
Articles like this, which purport to be objective inasmuch as they don't take sides while breathlessly recounting accusations, are like Richard Nixon saying, I could call my opponent a (you fill in the blank), but it would be wrong.
9
This accusation against Woody Allen was made in the middle of one of the ugliest custody disputes imaginable. I believe it was three separate independent agencies investigated Mia Farrows claim that Woody Allen out of the clear blue well into middle age decided to molest his very young daughter. If I recall it was investigated by the Connecticut Family Court, the police and the local prosecutors office. All three agencies agreed the child had been coached by her mother. I believe that Dylan Farrow believes she was molested by her dad Woody Allen. I also place faith in the three independent agencies that exonerated Mr Allen at the time the accusations were made. At that time I was surprised he was exonerated but there has never been any allegation the professionals who investigated were biased or unfit to conduct their investigations. There is no reason now to disturb that finding. The coaching found to have occurred by Mia Farrow has ruined two lives. Dylan believes she was molested when in fact it most likely never happened and Woody is now convicted of a crime he was long ago determined to have never committed.
27
@Robert Osuna And other siblings now adults say it could not have happened and talk about how Mia abused her adopted kids.
8
This article is a total distortion of the allegations against Allen... Re Dylan -- Judge Wilk did in fact find that Allen’s behavior toward her was “grossly inappropriate and that measures must be taken to protect her.” Further, the state attorney, Maco, said publicly that he did have probable cause to press charges against Allen but declined due to the fragility of the “child victim.” Maco also said he refused to put Dylan through a trial, and without her on the stand, he could not prosecute Allen. And re Sun Yi, tho she wasn't technically his daughter, she was a sibling to his children. So no...the whole "whoa metoo has gone too far" is simply wrong here. It's way past time to stand up for victims and stop pushing the PR lies of the victimizers...
13
Neither Maco nor Wilk did any actual investigation in the case. They simply read the investigations and declared that they did not believe them. Reading Wilk's description of Mia Farrow as an ideal mother, and contrasting it with Moses Farrow's description of his harrowing upbringing by Mia, leads me to believe that the famous actress had charmed Wilk into believing her, as she had so many others. Generally speaking, my default mode is to believe the accusers in these cases. But I see no reason to take Dylan's word over Moses'. They are both allegedly victims, and Moses' story seems to offer good reasons to distrust Dylan's. This is the only such case where I think the accused is innocent.
18
How will the world survive without yet another story about a nebbish in a dysfunctional relationship? Fans of the Wood Man are more creepy than he is.
9
I'd read it.
7
allegation=guilt. Welcome to America.
14
Woody Allen is a brilliant, troubled man whose life story finds no appetite in today's sensibilities. He should keep his memoir for now, but some day it will find an audience that is more emotionally removed from his personal issues.
5
Grew up enjoying Woody's movies starting with Take the money and run.
His own style by a mile and extremely creative. Blue Jasmine was incredible.
11
If the charges against Allen are true, he is reaping the rejection he deserves.
If the charges against him aren't true, a career and reputation have been unfairly destroyed.
9
Woody Allen's situation is a reminder of how misinformation becomes facts. Countless people still believe that:
a) he married his daughter (he did not. Soon-Yi was adopted by Mia and André Prévin.);
b) he was married to Mia Farrow (he never was. They never lived together.);
c) is the biological father of Dylan (she was adopted.);
d) was charged of child molestation (he never was. No charges were filed.)
Also, lots of people choose to ignore :
a) that he adopted two daughters with Soon-Yi (which means there was an inquiry about his fitness as a parent by the state of NY);
b) that Moses Farrow, Mia's adoptive son, defends him;
c) that Soon-Yi is no ignorant teenager who's under the spell of an old man. She finally told her side of the story recently. Yet, people don't seem to care for her at all.
It all goes to show that in today's world, one is guilty until proven innocent.
59
@Michel Forest
"She finally told her side of the story recently. Yet, people don't seem to care for her at all."
Could the reason people don't seem to care for Soon Yi is that she slept with her mother's boyfriend?
9
Behind her back no less.
3
@mlb4ever And how is that our business?
8
So the police cleared him but some but not all in his family and pop media condemn him ,only he knows as well as his step daughter know what happened there in their past home in Bridgewater CT.
Might this be trial by the press all over again?
3
The real book needed is not about Woody Allen but about Woody Allen's lost New York where Woody Allen was normal and a hero.
Like Einstein's Germany and Wittgenstein's Vienna
Those were the days my friend
14
Maybe Woody Allen should retire and move to Florida. His movies haven't been very good for a long time. Besides, he's creepy.
11
Did Woody cross a line; yes. Did Kavanaugh cross a line; yes. Did either man think it was a big deal at the time; no. When later confronted both pointed fingers elsewhere. They both professed innocence. Now I see the very people who howled for Kavanaugh's blood have been able to find a place in their hearts for good old Woody. That's what I find chilling.
8
fault equivalents. The evidence against Kavanagh was much stronger, and involved multiple accusers.
10
I don't see any evidence of that. Many liberals have assumed Allen is guilty. and he's been widely shunned. i have mixed feelings; if he is guilty he did something way worse than what Kavanaugh is alleged to have done. I think the Polanski case is a better analogy.
@greg
He did not marry his formal “adopted” child, but he was the signifying equivalent of the “stepfather” in the relationship. I have my suspicions about your post, but feel you are feeding the “but she wasn’t my biological daughter” myth. Most couples in second plus relationships have to deal with this issue.
Do you really think that it matters whether you are legally the adoptive father? No. If you choose to enter a relationship with a woman with minor children you are expected to act like an adult.
Any of you all who think otherwise are justifying “grooming” behavior that men in power, whether a priest, actor or boyfriend/step dad fall back on when confronted by the truth.
I find this feed incredibly depressing. No wonder we, as Americans, are in the midst of so many horrific pedophile scandals.
15
1977 - Mia Farrow and her husband, André Previn, adopt a girl, Soon-Yi Previn, who is believed to be around 7 years old
1980 - Mia Farrow adopts a baby by, Moses farrow
1985 - Mia Farrow adopts a baby girl, Dylan Farrow
1987 - Mia Farrow and Mr. Allen have a son, Ronan Farrow
1991 - Mr. Allen adopts Dylan Farrow and Moses Farrow
Woody Allen is the legal father to 3 of the 4 siblings in the Farrow household, starts a sexual relationship and eventually marrying the 4th.
Creepy no matter how you look at it.
16
1979 - Woody Allen and Ms. Farrow are introduced at Elaine’s, the Manhattan restaurant, and later begin a relationship.
That would make Soon Yi about 9 years old when Woody Allen started dating her mother so it's absolutely false that he had nothing to do with raising her.
5
@mlb4ever- he's not the legal father of 3 of the 4 siblings. More made up nonsense. He was never married to, or lived with Mia Farrow. Pulling lies out of thin air?
2
@lou Andrews
Reading is fundamental
1987 - Mia Farrow and Mr. Allen have a son, Ronan Farrow
1991 - Mr. Allen adopts Dylan Farrow and Moses Farrow
adoption: the action or fact of legally taking another's child and bringing it up as one's own
1
Seems that many don't get the facts on this correct...
Weird though is how Roman Polanski gets support from MIa Farrow and others....considering his conviction.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/its-not-just-tarantino-hollywoods-history-of-defending-child-rapist-roman-polanski
9
I absolutely love Allen’s 70s - Early 90s work. A cringe worthy moment, though is a scene from Bananas where Allen is at a bookstore and sneaks a porn mag in with Time and The National Review to the cashier. The cashier calls out to his co-worker “Hey, how much is this copy of Orgasm”? All the customers then look at Allen who nervously replies “I’m doing a sociological study on perversion. I’m up to advanced child molesting”. Yikes!
5
I can't say for sure if Allen molested Dylan Farrow. But he was investigated and acquitted. He's lived a long life, in a position of authority over hundreds of vulnerable young women, without a single other accusation or hint of misdeed or inappropriate behavior. He is universally reported to be scrupulously considerate and respectful to women and children.
This is not the pattern or history of a molester or abuser. More importantly, the content of his work is not at all representative or encouraging of abuse or harassment.
I do not wish in any way to criticize or challenge or dismiss Ms. Farrow, whose memory--whatever its genesis--is a horror no one should have to endure.
But please, cut Mr. Allen some slack. Let him work and let his work speak for itself.
24
Enough with the biographical fallacy already, folks.
Biographical fallacy is when we begin to think fictional characters in literature or film somehow reflect the character of the author. Now that these troubling allegations have come to light, people cannot resist the urge to "see" Allen's films as somehow foreshadowing his personal behaviour. Worse still, some commentators seem to view his earlier films as evidence of his later behaviour, which itself is perverse.
8
@Norman I miss the New Criticism, too.
2
You can still like the art yet may not like the artist.
I'd be very interested in what he'd have to say about his life.
5
I can leave any artists’ product and completely disregard. Ignore and cancel it, and my life is improved.
1
Mr Allen ought to disappear gracefully, with his movies.
4
Mia won. She’s the only one who did.
4
From a 1993 article in the NY times with the title, "Connecticut Prosecutor Won't File Charges Against Woody Allen":
A state's attorney in Connecticut said yesterday that he had "probable cause" to prosecute Woody Allen on charges that he sexually molested his adopted daughter, but had decided to spare her the trauma of a court appearance.
So, for those saying that he was not charged and therefore is not guilty, that is not what the prosecutor thought!
18
@Mary
The prosecutor’s self-defense came after much criticism. He had to say something and very quickly the history of the case underwent revision. What he said does not fundamentally make sense because children are often heard in the judge’s chambers or in a cleared courtroom. And if you want to talk about trauma inflicted on a child, think about the trauma Ms. Farrow inflicted by weaponizing her own child in a divorce.
9
No trial means no exoneration. Convicted by innuendo. Nasty bit of business.
2
@Mary That strikes me as a bit disingenuous. Was the State's Attorney declaring that violent criminals in Connecticut got a free pass if a trial could be shown to be painful enough for survivors and witnesses? "Rape a child in my state and if the victim is traumatized (Who wouldn't be?), then the accused gets his walking papers"? It makes no sense. It's what you say when you came out with an accusation you know you couldn't convince a real jury of but want to save face.
Thank goodness. He deserves to sink into oblivion.
5
Focusing on alleged crimes that happened 25 years ago, and have been debated nearly continuously, it is time to move on to current events. Woody Allen is part of American history.
3
Something about this tale never rings true to me.
In every other case of abuse, once the first victim comes forward, so do many others. All have multiple encounters with the accused.
Like breathing, abusers abuse. It’s part of their lives. Look at the Catholic priests. There is always dozens of victims and events.
With Allen, there is one event with one child that was investigated by the police and he was cleared. If he is such an abuser, where is everyone else? Where are the multiple events?
17
I saw a Woody Allen's movie before I heard anything negative about him. The movie spoke for itself - I knew he was a creep just from that alone.
In an earlier comment, I said Soon-Yi was 10 when Woody Allen met her. Actually, she was 8.
12
You know you've reached the new McCarthyism when the self-righteous scolding becomes institutionalized and comes mostly from people who conveniently ignore facts while not caring the slightest bit about how evil it is to falsely accuse someone of being a pedophile. Woody passed a lie-detector test. Mia Farrow still refuses to take one. Ronan Farrow is the son of Frank Sinatra and Mia from when she was dating Woody, after which Woody paid his child support. When will Ronan come clean? When will Mia take a lie-detector test?
Any psychologist will tell you that pedophiles show a pattern of repetitive behavior over their lifetimes until they are finally incarcerated. Woody has made over 50 films, a fair amount with children. Each film has about 200 crew members. We are talking about thousands of professional encounters in addition to hundreds/thousands of personal ones. NOT ONE OTHER PERSON has ever accused Woody of impropriety. But guess who has? The woman who just so happened to be in the middle of a fierce custody battle with Woody and who happens to have a rather unconventional love life herself. And you can read about a lot of it in her own words.
This will go down as one of the most outrageous and unjust social lynchings of our time.
31
The only reaction I've ever had to Allen and his "work" is terminal boredom. Thank goodness publishers aren't going to inflict any more of him on us.
4
Clearly it's difficult to separate an artist' personal life from his or her craft skills. Woody made some amazing films but will forever be mired in a child molestation charge, albeit one not proved.
I can think of so many artists in the past whose lives would have made them persona non grata in the art world today. Dali, Hemingway, and a slew of others lived lives that wouldn't stand up to examination today whether sexual harassment or other moral charges.
I loved many of Woody's films but don't go to see them any longer. Marrying his step-daughter wasn't his best move either.
4
That hat doesn't help. Why not a raincoat with the collar turned up, too?
4
Who cares about what did or didn't happen with Dylan? I care about what happened with his *other* daughter/wife, Soon-Yi.
An adoptive father is still a father. Even if she "didn't see him as a father figure", they met when she was 10. How is it at all plausible that she was just another adult he happened to meet? Even by Soon-Yi's own account, they got to know one another after Mia encouraged them to further develop their father-daughter relationship, when Soon-Yi was in Grade 11. Couldn't care less about what happens with a 7 year old. What happens with a Grade 11 student is just as bad.
9
Woody Allen peaked so long ago he has become a museum piece. I wouldn’t accept any of his recent films from a graduate student. He’s locked in a nostalgia for a world his grandchildren can read about in history books. Why would his memoir be anything more than a rehash of a life and genius that went sour 30
Years ago?
6
Great news! This old pedophile who seduced his own daughter has nothing we want to hear. He can just turn on a tape recorder and listen to his own voice —- no doubt defending his repulsive choices. He is the only one interested.
8
Untrue. Plenty of people are interested. He’s a terrific filmmaker who has been victimized by Mia Farrow.
13
@CDR Soon-yi was not his daughter, she was adopted by Mia and André Previn.
Self-publish your story, Woody. Tell them to “Go pound salt.”
12
I would buy his book in a second. Woody Allen is one of the greatest artists our country has produced.
29
ENOUGH already. There is no proof. Yes he's a strange man, but there is no proof that he's a criminal.
37
If he self-publishes it, it will be a best-seller. He still has his legions of devoted fans. The abusive slander spawned by the jealous Mia Farrow of entirely dubious character, has got to be given no credence. That her children carry on her ill crusade is disgusting. It is obvious that the fact that her child with Andre Previn, who was probably resentful that her father had been driven away, was able to win her lover away from her is the root cause of all this bile. Mia, who carried on with HER OWN MOTHER'S LOVER, Frank Sinatra, is merely reaping what she sowed. Like mother, like daughter. Soon-Yi merely did what her mother did. Shame on them both. But Soon-Yi at least seems to be a devoted wife, and is not ruining any of his movies like Farrow did. She was the worst of his female stars. And he saved her career, which was dead at the time. Ungrateful wretch. I totally support Woody Allen, despite his lack of better taste in women. I guess after Louise Lasser and Diane Keaton, you can only go downhill from there. But to cut off his creativity is a crime against society. Not his love life. Stop the gossip. Printing this article is just more gossip and totally irresponsible. The fact that two women wrote it only makes it more of a hatchet job. Can them, not him. Why is it always people of puny stature who attack the great ones?
31
@Grittenhouse
Bravo! Well said!
5
@Grittenhouse - And exactly where is your evidence that Maureen O'Sullivan (Mia's mother) and Frank Sinatra were "lovers"? That's what you claim in screaming all-caps excitement. Proof?
1
Yes Ingrid Bergman and other stars have been condemned -- in Bergman's case, it was having an affair with Roberto Rosselini -- but, even considering the historical context and standards of the time, it seems that molesting your own daughter will be a non-starter. That doesn't mean people won't still watch his older movies in upcoming generations -- but it feels he is done as far as this lifetime goes. Also, he hasn't really had a hit in a long time. I guess Blue Jasmine in 2013 and Midnight in Paris two years earlier. He has some other hits in the 2000s, but he hasn't been a powerhouse since the 1990s -- and it feels like #metoo has changed everything. There are lots of other interesting directors with whom to work. Also, there is an inherent creepiness in a lot of his films -- an obvious fixation with young women/girls -- and I actually think there's a lot of misogyny in his work. People commended him for strong female roles, but they tended to be shrews, whores or mental cases. Blue Jasmine, Mighty Aphrodite, Secrets & Lies, Bullets Over Broadway, Deconstructing Harry, etc., all have negative female stereotypes in the leads or supporting characters. BTW, I'm sure he can find a publisher abroad. I'm sure the French will still work with him.
6
Anjelica Huston still defends Roman Polanski, too. Not exactly a stirring endorsement for a defensive alleged child molester.
4
@Elizabeth apples and oranges. Polanski bailed out after pleading guilty to statutory rape. With Allen, no charges, no credible evidence.
10
Interesting. Hollywood used to thrive on controversy. Personally, find Hollywood irrelevant. I am too far removed from the generic garbage that Hollywood has been churning out the last couple decades to really care one way or another. When the US and Hollywood get its creative spark back, maybe I will tune back in.
5
Woody Allen's movies are not timeless classics. They may have been funny when I was younger and not as wise, but now I find his depiction of women completely insulting.
19
@Kara
Apparently you were wiser when young.
13
@Kara- i don't. If you only knew my family, the people around my neighborhood in Inwood, Manhattan. He's spot on.
10
I was disappointed to read of Michael Caine's point of view as described here. Then I googled it to find that, at least as of January 2019, he no longer holds the position the NYT ascribes to him. At least, that's what he told Rolling Stone and the Independent.
Glad to read (assuming it's true) that Woody Allen has more fair-minded fans in Europe. Seems to be the American way, to seek refuge there when shunned by the gatekeepers here.
13
That's too bad. His is one memoir I'd be interested in reading.
13
It’s unfortunate that a single unproven allegation by a seven year old child can result in such harsh judgments. Even adults can be given false memories, and that has been proven. I distinctly remember a tiny giraffe walking across my bed when I was very young, that doesn’t mean it’s true. It seems that if he’s a pedophile there would be more than one instance of that happening.
12
Actually, after a police investigation, the allegations were disproven.
9
He should try Regnery. They won't care.
3
Sorry, Woody Allan is a has been, and no longer will we listen to his lies. Why one would want to listen to him is beyond one's wildest dreams.
4
@Me Too- only Mia's, Ronan's, and Dylan's lies? how about Moses Farrow, who these last few years defends Allen. #notmetoo
4
Maybe because he’s brilliant
4
I wonder how many of these publishers have printed books about serial killers and despots, rushing them to market.
Based on a preponderance of the comments alone, if Allen chose to self-publish, he'd likely make a fortune.
7
I never believed the allegations.
I've enjoyed most of his movies, and thought "Zelig" was so very original and really showed a stroke of genius.
I would read a memoir by him.
15
I do believe in separating the artist from the art, up until the point where the perversion, criminality, what have you is intrinsic to the work. While some of Allen's films seem free of such issues, others, "Manhattan" certainly comes to mind, clearly demonstrate his obsession with underage females and give credence to Dylan's story. I might still watch the old movies I have enjoyed and consider inoffensive on tv, but I would not add any money to his coffers by seeing any new work given his continuing offensive attitude.
3
To all the commenters wailing about guilt and innocence - who cares? This is for the criminal courts where one is owed the presumption of innocence as per our constitution.
No one is owed a bigger than $3mil book deal or more legacy. Publishers are most certainly allowed to reject a memoir for any number of reasons including the possibility of bad PR.
3
Diversity in sexual preference, such as intergenerational coupling, is as closely related to child molestation as shoving your way into a subway car is to mass murder. Contemporary U.S. society is numb and dismissive to violence but horrified and indiscriminately conflative to sexuality. Everyone, including Woody, is entitled to the sweaty pungent diversity of his consensual sexual behavior. In half the states in the U.S. you can legally romp with your 16 year old babysitter but if you take a nude selfie, you have broken federal child pornography laws. The U.S. widely finds Woody to be 'creepy'. The world widely finds the U.S. to be inanely insensed by sexuality.
13
I hope Woody self-publishes.
13
The guy supposedly is worth $80 million. With kind of moolah who needs a book?
4
He’s not after the money. He wants to set the record straight about his legacy. For the record, this was slander and defamation by an angry ex-wife.
13
So much of this mess is the result of the volcanic domestic dispute between Mr. Allen and his ex-partner Mia Farrow. The notorious battle that ensued well over a quarter century ago involving Allen's courtship of Mia Farrow and Andre Previn's adopted daughter Soon Yi, the accusations and bile that Ms. Farrow launched against Allen regarding his alleged molestation of adopted daughter Dylan which investigators could find no verifiable proof ; all this has tainted Woody Allen's life, career and once much vaulted legacy.
I remain a fan of Mr. Allen. As a filmmaker he holds a unique and prominent position in American film history of the past 50 years. Unfortunately the court of public opinion has done him grievous harm. Many media talking heads and celebrities have vociferously condemned him ; not all, but a very sizable portion, enough , I believe, to sway the minds of the general public at large.
Then there are those who are on the fence, giving Mr.Allen tacit approval until more proof emerges to prove them wrong. No matter how one views it, Woody Allen's creative energy and genius is now officially buried under a morass of bad publicity, this major new development in shunning his memoir is akin to nailing a figurative coffin shut.
But what can't be shut are the innumerable films he made - several are outright classics, too numerous to mention here. My personal favorite is "The Purple Rose Of Cairo" featuring Ms. Farrow's greatest performance: how bittersweet.
30
@mikeo26 Since when is underage sex and nude pictures described as "courtship"?
3
@Bella Wilfer. I don’t recall any underage sex or nude pictures in The Purple Rose of Cairo.
1
Zero charges. Zero proof of anything. But the mob has carried out its verdict.
It's interesting how so many people repeat "He married his own daughter" as if repeating it ad nauseum makes it true. It's literally not.
But facts don't matter anymore.
84
Another indication of the lynch mob mentality that seems to have taken hold in this country. Accusation = guilt and punishment must be administered without regard to evidence. That seems to be the fashionable thing especially among "progressives.
20
You don't have to like or approve of someone to find his movies and life of interest.
Allen's behavior may have been appalling, but that doesn't mean a book telling the story of his life wouldn't be a worthwhile and informative read. Hard to believe the sanctimony and cowardice of the New York publishing world.
297
@Jacob
Well said, Jacob. I had a comment, but after reading yours, there was nothing else to be said.
7
@Jacob Ridiculous. Allen is not entitled to have his book published by a New York publishing house. If he really shopped it around, he could find someone to publish it, but not a major house and not with the advance he's probably expecting. He can easily self publish the book if he wants. It's not a case of censorship. Publishing is a business. Buying the book just wasn't worth it to them, based on sales projections and reputational harm.
32
It’s the Benjamins, baby!
8
"allegations that Allen denies and that have left Americans unsure whom to believe — the prospect of publishing his memoir seems to hold little appeal."
Um, didn't you forget the little part that two states investigated the allegations and found him completely innocent. This is unfair, biased reporting. In fact, this entire article is based on hearsay and no one speaking on the record or being named, therefore none of it is to be believed or taken seriously, sorry.
38
The fact that so many on this thread believe that Allen's current wife was 'his daughter', 'his stepdaughter' or 'his adoptive daughter' , when she was none of those things, is a measure of the mentality of so many of his accusers. Facts no longer matter, official inquiries no longer matter, the truth no longer matters. Allen was cleared of any wrongdoing by the authorities but, as Donald Trump himself has said, "It doesn't matter if it isn't true: as long as you keep saying it, people will eventually believe it". When the publishing world bends to the irresponsible witch hunts of social media lynch mobs we are on a very slippery slope.
582
He lived in the Home, as a Father figure, when his now Wife was a child. Now that, is legitimately creepy.
Period.
230
@Phyliss Dalmatian
no. he didn't
http://mosesfarrow.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-son-speaks-out-by-moses-farrow.html
70
@Phyliss Dalmatian
It is legitimately creepy. However, it is also legitimately not true. Soon-Yi never lived with Allen as a child and never saw him as a father figure.
88
Twice investigated, twice no basis for charges being brought.
Yes, he married his adopted daughter when she was an adult, pretty creepy for many, but not illegal.
Are we a country of laws or a country of opinions? Everybody seems to have an opinion about Woody.
Memoirs are usually self-exculpatory and self-promoting; I am sure many would want to read Woody's memoirs, particularly the portions dealing with his refusal to capitulate to Hollywood pressures to produce "marketable" (high-attendance) films.
42
@Mon Ray: If publishers really believed that many people would buy it, they'd publish it. We are a country of laws. Contract law is pretty clear: publishers can't be forced to publish a book they don't want to.
8
@Mon Ray She was not his adopted daughter.. she was the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Previn.
11
@Mon Ray
she not was his adopted daughter
she was farrow's adopted daughter w/ previn
he never married farrow -
6
Attitudes change. This man’s art is completely mired in things we’ve grown to collectively find distasteful. As a young girl, you learn that life ends at 30, that your youth and beauty is all that you have of value, and that old, unattractive men are suitable mates. There are more than enough culture signposts still pointing young girls in this direction and I for one am glad to see a collective effort to bring them down. All of them.
27
@BBB This is a legit critique of his work, but I don't think this is why publishers were turning down his memoir.
3
I'd buy this book in a heartbeat (and I haven't purchased a book since January). The sad thing about this situation is, the public lynching of Allen would evaporate in ten seconds if anybody in the media would bother to adequately communicate the "Moses dispatch" to the world; a more devastating portrait of the Farrow household (and its dysfunction) (and don't forget Uncle Farrow, who's currently in jail on a child molestation charge!) would be difficult to conceive.
18
the slandering of woody allen is outrageous. there is no reliable evidence he committed any crime against his daughter. it is highly plausible that his vindictive ex-wife coached her fragile, impressionable daughter into this attack on mr. allen's reputation. whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? why are we regressing into some sort of mob-mentality vigilante justice?
486
Again, He lived in Ms.Farrows home, with her children, and functioned as a Father figure. Now he is married to one of those Children. That, and the extreme Age difference, makes this situation creepy. And this is irregardless of any abuse accusations.
Just gross.
36
@Phyliss Dalmatian what was the age difference when Mia married Frank Sinatra?
55
@Alfred Let's get some facts cleared: Mia Farrow is not Woody Allen's "ex-wife". They were never married. They never lived together. You are correct that "the slandering of Woody Allen is outrageous" even more so, given the nature of his connection with Mia Farrow.
37
There's a reason law enforcement has investigated him to death multiple times and never filed charges -- he's been framed. Clumsily.
But the truth no longer matters in America. All that counts is the screaming of the social "justice" mob.
I hope he self-publishes.
If he read the it himself, I think it would be the biggest audiobook in history.
82
@Tom He used to publish some stuff in the New Yorker, though I don't recall seeing anything recently (but I could have missed). Perhaps they could publish all or part of the memoir. Or maybe they have blacklisted him too?
2
@ellienyc He published a few blatant S. J. Perelman rip-offs in the New Yorker. His reputation has outshone his creative output for at least the past quarter century.
6
@Tom we have become a nation of amateur fascists. The masses will throw anyone into a pit of snakes for the slightest suspicion or infraction.
8
When I read Allen agreed to polygraph testing and Mia Farrow refused, I felt I had a pretty good idea as to what was really going on. Public opinion will eventually change; the memoir will be published.
86
@Anni Smythe
No reputable lawyer would ever advise her client -- or sibling, or friend, or neighbor -- to take a polygraph test. (You learn that in 1L.) Why? Because they're not perfect.
That is almost certainly why Ms. Farrow refused testing. She trusted her attorney's education and expertise.
2
In the interest of fairness, publishers should show the same hesitation if they are approached with the idea of a memoir written by Mia Farrow.
14
@Metaphor Mia Farrow wrote her memoir years ago. It's excellent. The title is "What Falls Away."
4
I would read his autobiography.
I’ll buy the book, from an actual book store.
9
His wife/daughter was born in 1977, the same year Manhattan, a film essentially about the then-42 year old Allen dating a 17-year old.
I was 17 when I saw Manhattan and found the whole thing grotesque. Little could I have dreamt of the even more grotesque reality of the 56-year old Allen marrying his 22-year old daughter.
Memoir? No thanks!
356
@white tea drinker: I would be interested to know how many teenagers or young adults who saw the movie at the time thought that the relationship was inappropriate or that the Mariel Hemingway character was a victim. I'm not sure I would see it in the same way if I saw the movie today, but I think I was more open-minded then.
10
She isn't his daughter for God's sakes she was the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Andre Previn. Mia Farrow and Woody Allen were never even married.
55
She's not his daughter: not his biological daughter, not his adopted daughter, not someone who looked up to him as a father figure, not someone who even lived under the same roof with him.
Opinions are fine, but they should be based on facts.
(BTW, I'm not saying that what he did wasn't weird and wrong-- she was, after all, the sister of his children. But it was nothing like incest, so let's get the facts straight.)
56
Much needed background: Soon-Yi Previn was never Woody Allen's "adopted daughter." She was adopted by Mia Farrow and then-husband composer Andre' Previn.
Ironic background: Mia Farrow became pregnant by the still-married Previn when she was 23, causing the break-up of Previn's marriage with wife Dory. Dory later penned the song "Beware Of Young Girls" with young Mia in mind.
73
@JohnBarleycorn So what! And who cares who or what relation Soon-Yi Previn was or had!? While he was in an intimate relationship with Mia Farrow, who picked an abandoned Soon-Yi off the street as a young child, Woody Allan was secretly photographing her, naked as the day she was born, leg's spread. No matter how Allan's fans parse it, Allan was most certainly not thinking of Soon-Yi's physical and mental well being, while he was aiming that camera. Oh, and yes, I believe Dylan Farrow, and always will.
11
I am eager to read Woody Allen's memoir, and I hope someone publishes it.
26
In Allen's comic and yet deeply philosophic movie, "Bullet's Over Broadway," one of his characters says, “An artist creates his own moral universe." It's hard to accept that great art, and the great artists who make it, very often have terrible morals. That's the way it goes.
5
@Emile That is a very broad statement based on myth and mythology. I know many artists who are highly ethical and principled. I happened to be one of them too. Every group has its share of unscrupulous individuals . It would be wiser to say " some artists are....."
1
@Emile yes, but the law has other things to say about terrible morals, and THAT’S just the way it goes!
I feel sorry for Mr. Allen if the allegations aren't true. Unfortunately, some of his movies where he as an older man is interested in very young women leave an impression that, rightfully or wrongly, hurt the way that he is perceived outside of those films. At the very least, he's guilty of foolishness in the roles he played given his circumstances.
I realize I am the same age as Soon-Yi. Growing up I found humor in Mr. Allen's films, and was always drawn to the strong and funny women in his movies. What I found creepy in a lot of these early movies was his incessant attraction to women much younger than him, and then he married Soon-Yi. That did it for me and I wrote him and his movies off pretty much forever. I get that many families are dysfunctional and estranged from one another or take sides with parents/siblings, etc. I'm one of them. Its complicated. Mr. Allen is complicated and creepy. I would never read his memoir and have no interest. Likewise with Ms. Farrow. I have no interest in her either. They are both nuts.
3
Allen's movies are tedious, pretentious and self-aggrandizing. I don't care about his romances. Since neither his career nor his personal life are of interest to me, I would never read his memoir. And I buy lots of books.
5
I could be wrong because my memory at this age is flagging. But weren't Woody Allen and Dylan Farrow finally married? Now that accusations from her are coming out, I guess the #MeToo movement has taken its toll on that relationship as well. It's not for me to pass judgement one way or the other. However, there was a time when Hollywood was begging Charlie Chaplin to come back, which he finally did but not to stay. This is not to say Allen's fate will come out the same as Chaplin's: the accusations against Chaplin--especially of being a communist--were simply bogus. Allen's personal baggage is a lot heavier, so he just has to wait and see history's verdict, and it might not be auspicious.
These major publishers are parasites anyways. A growing trend is that they're forcing authors to sign "morality clauses" which give the publisher to drop the contract if the author ever says anything too controversial.
Mind you all the major publishing houses are owned by publicly traded media conglomerates. Harper Collins is owned by Newscorp, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt made a fortune publishing Mein Kampf. I don't think these guys are in any position to be on a high horse.
2
Americans don't know what to believe? I beg to differ. This American believes Dylan Farrow.
6
Not this American
5
What we have here is a dead shark.
3
Maybe if he titled the book "Creep"
7
At worst, Allen is a garden variety male pervert - which is to say an older man who is not beyond seeking to date women near the age of consent.
You can condemn him for that, but heck, we have one of those men as President right now, and we previously had one serving as President from 1993 to 2001. So let's keep things real here.
The charges involving Allen's relationship with his 7 year old daughter have never made any emotional sense, except as a revenge plot hatched by Mia Farrow - who would later hint that her son Ronan was the product of an adulterous relationship with a previous husband, Frank Sinatra, while Frank was married to another woman, Barbara Marx. This is the level of character and credibility we're dealing with here.
I much prefer Allen's early films, when he was still attempting to be funny instead of profound - and he lost me outright with Crimes and Misdemeanors. So I have no fanboy skin in this game.
Men who are sexually attracted to barely legal women - which might possibly have been Allen's thing - are typically not attracted to 7 year old women, which is what Allen was accused of by a jilted Farrow.
Pedophiles don't do it once, then do it repeatedly. Allen's accusers need to demonstrate a history of attraction to seven year old girls - and I bet you they can't, and therefore that these accusations are most likely the product of Mia Farrow's vengeful imagination and a daughter's manufactured memory and fierce loyalty to her mother.
11
Interesting how investigators who conducted the most thorough investigation could come up with insufficient or no evidence that Woody Allen committed any of the acts he was charged with, yet so many people, who would otherwise pride themselves in utilizing an objective source to determine guilt or innocence, refuse to believe the objective facts. That's what seems to happen during a mass hysteria; and the me too movement has become one of mass hysteria. So be it. If Woody Allen makes it, and Bardem stars in it, I will go. ( And yes, I believe him, not her.).
10
I’ve loved much of his work. I know nothing of the truth of the accusations leveled against him. For years I avoided his work because of the accusations and then I realized, I miss his brilliant insight into human foibles. He’s a funny man and writes excellent commentary on live, love and dilemma. On a Smith-Corona. Screenwriting is a precise craft. Don’t knock it unless you’ve spent a year or two writing and rewriting one script.
5
Freedom of speech. Woody Allen has had an interesting career. No matter what he has or has not done that bothers people, he should go ahead to write his memoir--maybe publish it himself or with a small publisher. I think a lot of people would be interested in his story.
5
As a person who reads the comments on many, many Times articles, I'm fascinated to see all the new names here. I remember a previous situation where WA's publicist arranged a bunch of comments on an article about WA. I wouldn't be shocked if that were happening here.
WA is a messed-up person. He always has been. Now that we have a society where access to the media and the arts is not restricted to white men, there are more and more interesting stories to hear from a variety of people. Even if I didn't find WA positively creepy, I wouldn't be particularly interested in his well-worn tropes of self-absorption. If he believes that others would be, he can surely self-publish.
6
Due to the Me Too# movement, the accused are now presumed guilty until somehow proven incident.
13
Whatever happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?
8
I get concerned when comments from (hopefully) well intentioned people are condemning a person, who we do not know personally, for accusations that he was not charged with or convicted of, and so is presumed innocent— except in the media and a very vocal, but selective, public opinion.
His book should be published. We should all get a spine.
6
Both his daughter Dylan and son Ronan find him suspect. Why would anyone say because our justice system acquitted him that he is not guilty he had the money and lawyers to pull it off why trust what his publicist over his children? But maybe for all of you who defend him you are ok with what Roman Polanski did as well?
2
@Greg
"Innocent until proven guilty" applies to a court of law and, for better or worse, we all make our own judgements outside of court rooms. The idea behind the concept is that we are all innocent and, just because we might be hauled before a court, it does not follow that we should presume someone to be guilty, just the opposite. I heard a very young and inexperienced lawyer put it this way once: the accused sits before the court covered in the glorious robes of innocence.
Of course, we are unable to adjudicate every controversy in a court with a jury hearing the full variety of evidence. The people who are shunning Allen now are the same set of people who made lots of money being in business with him in the past. They are making a business decision cloaked in a moral one.
Published? Many women would consider it unfair that Allen would have such a forum when others, including his daughter, does not. He's in the dock of public opinion with no way out. Being accused of a heinous crime is to fall through a trapdoor to hell and perhaps he deserves that fate/
I read Allen's op-eds in the NY Times when he attempted to fight back against the allegations and he seemed creditable. Circumstantially, with Allen's well known and public attraction to very young women, even girls, there is reason to believe what is alleged. For my own self, I prefer a stance of not knowing something that seems to be unknowable.
2
What about Ronan’s brother? You conveniently forgot about him.
4
I find Allen's pursuit of youngsters disgusting; and, as in the case of Michael Jackson, my willingness to be exposed to his work is greatly diminished by his personal conduct.
9
@John
I find Allen's pursuit of youngsters disgusting
That's fine, you are entitled to have your own ethical views. However, you should be aware that famous women like Demi Moore or Madonna do not share them.
oh please. he MARRIED his adopted daughter. poor woody, but as they say, you made your bed, now you can sleep in it. he is a creep.
10
@pamela I think the Ancent Egyptians did the same thing to keep the Royal blood pure.
@pamela
No. Woody Allen did NOT marry his adopted daughter. Soon Yi Previn was André Previn’s adopted daughter.
4
@Michal All in the family then...Great!
2
When, on God's green Earth, are people going to get over this?
Mr. Allen was exonerated in a court of law YEARS ago for the supposed "molestation." Sure... his domestic relationships were/are messed up. That's not our business.
Allan Konigsberg is a verified genuis, period. So my question to him is... why keep plugging scripts? I believe you're weathy enough... perhaps it's time to retire quietly? Give me a call if you'd like to discuss. :)
PS I LOVE YOU!
5
Anyone who is pro Allen is a spammer. One thing he has money for is a P.R. machine to protect his gargantuan ego.
This man is a pedophile substantiated by testimony by two children, photographic evidence and other friends, wives and intimates. He married his daughter, a girl he knew from, what, six, seven? What do you people not understand about sexual boundaries.
America has one of the highest rates of incest and pedophilia in the world. Check your morals, men!
12
Yeah, that goes for you too, Moses Farrow!
1
This is one of the worst “journalist neutral” articles out of the New York Times yet. It skims over his most egregious acts - pedophilia and incest, and compares his so called analogous behaviors to Elizabeth Taylor. Really? Multiple marriages equals crimes that some consider more abhorrent than murder?
I live next door to a couple who adopted a six year old from China. If I heard he was having a sexual relationship with her should I accept it as normal? No, men. No. I would call the police and hope that they were not a fan.
Rethink your author.
11
Who would want to read about a parent molesting then marrying his adopted child. The Hollywood Liberal Hypocrisy.
4
@skanda - You seem to have missed the list of Hollywood actors who won't work with him.
btw take a look at the images of Trump groping his daughter and listen to the interviews where he talks about wanting to date her. So much for conservative family values.
7
She was the adopted child of Andre Previn not Woody Allen.
4
is there a crime so horrible that merely to be accused is reason enough for punishment? first degree murder hasn't fallen into this category, but sex abuse is trending this way. i'm not sure anyone benefits from this kind of simple justice -- not the accused, of course, but not actual victims, either.
8
So Moses Farrow's account of the horrors under the Farrow household is to be discounted? I grew up under a manipulative, control freak of a mother(and father). Parents can twist children's minds so well by using many methods. I feel sorry for Dylan being used as a pawn in Mia's quest for vengence.
21
Broadway Danny Rose is in my opinion Woody Allen's masterpiece. Beautifully filmed with precise expert editing.
He is/was an excellent filmmaker.
His personal life never seemed to progress, in art change and a World view of that change gives you insight and the ability to help make that change in your audience's lives.
While he may be a victim himself, he has most assuredly done very little to publicly show how he believes that women are equals in the same arena he is in.
Exception being Broadway Danny Rose, where Mia Farrow plays Tina Vitale... a Brassy strong woman who clearly is the center of strength in this film.
Rather than trying to cash in on a memoir, Mr. Allen should try and cash in on speaking out and supporting women. Like Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, Yauch was also a strong supporter of feminism, going as far as to apologize for lyrics in some early Beastie Boys songs which he retroactively deemed offensive. Releasing multiple platinum albums afterwards with respect.
Change, as the Beatles so succinctly put it, The movement you need is on your shoulder.
2
@SheHadaTattooToo So he must pass the politically correct standard set by feminists? No thank you.
I get neurotic just thinking about his movies, no way would I want to read about it.
2
Woody Allen chose to enter into a sexual relationship with the daughter of his girlfriend. He had sex with his biological and adopted children's sister. Did he care about how the Farrow family? NO. He used some vile and absurd excuse about his heart. A man with a soul does not engage in that behavior. His remarks about the #MeToo Movement were not toned-deaf. He justified sexually harrassing women. He defended ruining the lives of women who refuse sexual demands from older and more powerful men. "When people tell you what they are, believe them," said Maya Angelou, who was also a rape survivor. Woody Allen deserves to stand on the dustbins of history. By the way, he helped conceived Ronan Farrow into this world who has exposed men like Allen who have abused and have mistreated women for decades. He did one thing to be remembered for: Ronan Farrow.
7
@Tonya
Well said, and thank you.
Allen married the sister of his children. How is that justified by his supporters.
How sad for an adopted child to be married to an adult in the family- who was in a long term intimate relationship with her mother ! So selfish of Allen.
6
@Patricia
Mia Farrow married a much older man who was the husband of her best friend by "accidentally" getting herself pregnant. There is even a song about it. So no moral high ground, please.
1
@S.G.
When it comes to adopted children there ought to be a higher moral ground.
1
Which way is the wind blowing today?
Woody Allen's memoir will get 7 figures for his widow and his children.
Some of those same publishers and editore will be down on all fours begging and bidding for it.
As the world turns.
And no one knows this better than Woody Allen.
I seriously doubt he's lost a wink of sleep.
5
Middle aged git with a tendancy to whine leaves nude pix of long-time partner's daughter around for Mom to find, is shocked when whining falls out of fashion and he is considered repetitious and redundant ten yrs later as an elder git peddling the same whine? Oy.
6
I think I must have read at least two dozen comments referring to Soon Yi as Allen’s daughter or stepdaughter. SHE WAS NOT. And she wasn’t underage, either.
12
Woody Allen,like Macbeth, has led a “charmed life” so far.
Being betrayed by the likes of Mia Farrow or losing the corpse actor (Sir? Yeah, Sir) Michael Caine; Allen misses nothing.
1
Finally, Allen is getting what he deserves. He is a pervert who foisted his perversion on movie audiences for decades. Why people continued to allow him to make films after he married his step-daughter is far beyond me. That revelation about his vile character made clear to me why I had thought the sexuality in his early films troubling. It was troubling because it came from a sick mind.
3
@Bonnie Balanda I do wonder how much Woody Allen's religion is affecting the opinions of those who do not like him.
1
@Bonnie Balanda Soon-Yi was adopted by Mia and André Previn, not by Woody. She was not his stepdaughter.
1
As much fun as his movies have been ... he married the daughter about whom this article spends some time referencing. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
@Castanet: Yup, you're mistaken. Didn't happen. Not his daughter, not his step-daughter.
Consider yourself corrected.
5
I don’t know if he did or did not molest his daughter. What I do know is that many of his movies have a sexually creepy tone, Manhattan for one, and that he married his very young step daughter — also creepy. I have not been to a Woody Allen movie since he married her as my own personal protest and disgust of this otherwise talented man. There are plenty of non creepy talented filmmakers I can give my money to. I have zero interest in reading his memoir or any bio written about him.
267
@Stefanie
Just curious, besides Manhattan, which of his movies in your opinion have a "seriously creepy tone?"
17
@Stefanie
She wasn't his stepdaughter.
27
@Stefanie
Get your facts straight before your irresponsible comments that are only adding to a witch hunt. No one in the movie, Manhattan marries their stepdaughter. You see where this can go.....
27
I think publishers are passing up a very good and interesting memoir. Woody Allen is a great writer who has made some excellent movies. Any accusations about his relationships with any woman or women remain unknown. He has not been found guilty of anything. The motives for anyone making accusations against Woody Allen are unclear as well.
I think he should just publish the memoir himself. Since when are book publishers afraid of controversy or passing judgement on any author's behavior. This baffles me.
6
This is a sad situation because regardless of what was not proven by a police investigation, book publishers don't want to be associated with someone even accused of molestation, proven or not, because society's current view of "believe the accuser" would spread to them. And the actors denouncing him are the same way, too, and don't want to miss out on future film or TV roles. As an artist, Allen should soldier on, produce movies overseas if need be and -- as some of suggested here -- simply publish his memoirs online, even though it means little or no advance and lower royalties. He's well off enough and will feel better at least with his side out there.
7
His movies are his legacy. Good/bad or indifferent.
3
@Julia Didn't he make a film about cradle robbing Mariel Hemingway when she was underage?
Wow, the tides are turning and I am grateful for the #Me Too movement, of which I am a member, for making it so.
8
@cary- i'm happy not a#metoo member. Lynch mobs aren't my thing.
5
I strongly suspect Woody's book will eventually be published and that these rejections will only add to the interest. For an exaggerated example: "Buy The Book that Publishers Feared to Print."
5
At least in terms of the singling out of Allen for making movies featuring older men with younger women: seriously? That's been going on since the dawn of cinema and continues to this day. Hopefully Michael Caine isn't boycotting him for that one...For those of us who loved his movies it's a difficult call at this point and a sad situation. It's certain that many of our favorite, most inspirational figures were, in private, people we wouldn't want to be around. The good news is that most of us didn't have to be. So stop complaining and go watch "Bananas."
13
Why doesn't Allen market an e-book directly to the public on the web? Like many musicians do these days. Publisher disinterest would be irrelevant, and any interested member of the public could buy it, download it and read all about Allen's version of his life. Problem solved.
9
@Dan88 Why just an eBook? CreateSpace has merged with Kindle and he could now publish a complete paperback!! He should do it just for the irony, and, yes: it would sell.
Personally I abhor the left's fascist methods of silencing free speech everywhere these days, although I do have several legit reasons to add my name to the "me too" movement. I do not know who is right or wrong on this issue of what he did or did not do.
1
Woody Allen is a genius and his films changed my life. The allegations against him were not supported in two investigations, and nobody else has accused him of anything. Why do people want so badly to believe he’s guilty?
72
His own son Ronan speaks otherwise...so odd to me that someone would ignore what the mans own children would say. But you would trust what comes out of his publicist mouth?? Just the fact that he would have an affair with the child he helped raise. But perhaps you also would make a case for Roman Polanski ??
1
@Steve Because he carried on affair with the daughter of his long time partner?
2
@Steve
Why do so many want to believe he's guilty despite the lack of proof and previous two acquittals? Three reasons pop into mind:
1. schadenfreude--the pleasure people take in someone else's misery, often a celebrity whose talent/accomplishments might otherwise be enviable;
2. continuing intra-family vendettas spearheaded by a bitter Mia Farrow (not all children are cooperating);
3. the expansive righteousness of MeToo, which began with reasonable and justifiable specifics, but has now ballooned into some weird combination of indiscriminate vengeance and fad.
12
Woody, self-publish! I will buy it. I'm glad to read he is shooting the new film in Spain, and I'm also glad he is touring with his jazz band. I admire his work ethic. There have been some creepy, regretful moments in his films - consider the dining room table scene in Broadway Danny Rose where his character is flirting with a 12-year-old girl. As for the real-life accusations, however, I must request everyone defer to the concept of due process. I also want to go on record here and say that I will never work with Greta Gerwig or Colin Firth, and I will never go see any film they are in.
14
I read this whole article and I didn’t see his age listed.
10
@Yvonne Dennis. So what? If that important, look it up on this thing called the internet.
2
@Yvonne Dennis
I believe he's around 102... :)
why does that matter?
1
@Yvonne Dennis, older than Ringo.
Woody Allen is an artistic genius— I think of Zelig, Crimes and misdemeanors, the films with Diane Keaton etc... etc... Despite investigations exonerating him of molestation and the legal (yet admittedly a bit creepy by today’s standards) hookup with a girlfriends daughter— some in the public court of opinion won’t see past their disgust and thus will not be able to judge his work on the merits. Sad? I think so. But regardless of that and the big publishers pusillanimity , his memoir will be a best seller. As it should be.
31
An overview of child molestation law.
"Although it is our obligation as a society to take child molestation charges very seriously,false reporting of child molestation is more common than many people realize.
In the context of family disputes, contentious divorce and custody battles can be a factor.
Polygraph (Lie detector) tests are not considered PROOF of guilt or innocence so what is an accused person to do..
In the case of Woody Allen, none of us really know of his guilt or innocence. Yet, he is being punished as this article points out.
To be a bit less convinced of his guilt, You might look up "False memory syndrome foundation" and view their Advisory Board of clinicians and researchers.
I don't know if Woody Allen is innocent or guilty however. after reviewing the information including the advisory board of False Memory Syndrome Foundation, i came away somewhat less convinced of his guilt.
This is a very emotional subject and i am no expert on it.
It's a horrible thing to be molested. It's also a terrible thing to be accused of it as one doesn't seem to have a way of proving their innocence.
In the case of Woody Allen, he could be the perpetrator but there is also the possibility that he is innocent of the charge.
Very few subjects can produce this many very strong emotions on both sides of this issue.
14
@M.W. Endres Amen
What exactly does this have to do with #MeToo? Allen stood accused of child molestation and was acquitted after an investigation. He married his step daughter and they have been together for decades. That’s certainly an unusual norm defying arrangement but has not the faintest to do with sexual harassment out of a position of power.
It’s the combination of self righteousness and ignorance that appalls me.
In my opinion sexism is even deeper ingrained into society than racism. But we don’t overcome racism by electing a black president and we don’t defat sexism by going after the past sins of celebrities or other public figures. There is no cheap short cut. We need to change values, norms, behaviors trough advocacy in families, schools, work places and politics.
25
@Oliver Herfort
I don't think Woody "married his step daughter." Mia adopted Soon Yi, but Mia and Woody were not married. He is not related to his wife by blood or by adoption.
7
@Oliver Herfort- Soon yi wasn't his stepdaughter, for the millionth time!!! So i'm disregarding the rest of your comment.
10
@lou andrews
And he didn't live with Mia, as another poster says below, or function as a "Father figure" to her adopted children.
Odd how many people lie about Woody. Maybe his memoir clears up the lies.
5
I never understood Woody Allen's neurotic sense of humor nor did I cared much about his movies, too self absorbed for my taste.
15
@JG: what does your sense of humor to do with shunning an artist for past allegations of child molestations?
2
The predatory piety on display in these comments is akin to the clucking of some sour-faced character in an old Andy Hardy film. No one has proved that Allen has done anything illegal so they resort to judging his marriage and picking apart the language in his films in order to denounce him? I don't have to like anything about Woody Allen to know that this sort of social condemnation via hearsay is more appropriate to the campaign against counterrevolutionaries than to American citizenry. This is ugly stuff.
21
“But with his career all but derailed by resurfaced allegations that he molested his daughter Dylan Farrow nearly three decades ago allegations that Allen denies and that have left Americans unsure whom to believe — the prospect of publishing his memoir seems to hold little appeal.”
I for one believe the Connecticut State Police; they investigated the claims at the time and found NO evidence to support them. Furthermore they concluded that D’s description of the “event” looked to have been coached. So until such time as evidence to support D’s claim comes out, the NY Times has no business pretending that there’s some type of equal validity to be afforded to each side of this case.
Submitted May 2nd 2019 6PM eastern.
39
To the best of my knowledge Woody has never been convicted of any sex crimes and no one has produced any hard evidence to corroborate the allegations of childhood sex abuse. So at this point they are only accusations. This is a lynching a la Al Franken style.
40
@Steve Thank you for making this point. Although I’m a passionate feminist and have been for the past 50 years, I believe firmly that Al Franken and Woody Allen are innocent. I admire Franken’s politics and wish he were back in the Senate. Of course Woody Allen is innocent! The police, the Yale specialists in child abuse, and his son Moses all confirm his innocence.
It’s a relief to see how many NYT. commentersc agree with this view.
6
Frankly, I never could understand what he saw in Mia Farrow! She was weird & flaky in every interview.
12
@Jimmy
And vice versa.
@Jimmy, their relationship made a lot more sense than the one Mia had with Frank Sinatra. Remember, he was once married to Ava Gardner.
"allegations that Allen denies and that have left Americans unsure whom to believe". Hey, paper of record: maybe it would be good to expand this chunk here to mention that following multiple investigations, he was never so much as prosecuted (much less found guilty) for any crime; there have never been any other such claims before or after and no civil settlements on record. Furthermore, if you're only going to recount the victim's claims: at least two of Farrow's adopted children have recounted pretty awful abuse on her part to anyone she saw is disrespectful or disloyal. Frankly, this feels like a hit piece that belongs in the Daily Mail or the Enquirer.
21
Woody did not abuse his daughter. Of he had, there would be other victims and he would have been found unfit to be the parent of the children he adopted with his wife.
Greta Herwig, Colin Firth, Mira Sorvino, and othets, shame on you for your McCarthyism.
17
@NR- time to boycott their movies. These people act more like sheep than human.
6
@NR He does not have any daughters other than the daughter he adopted with Mia Farrow and that daughter's name is Dylan Farrow.
@NR. This could be the most naive statement i have ever heard. How could YOU possibly know whether he did or didn't molest his daughter and to assert there would be others is, well...Dumb. You have zero knowledge.
1
Memoir, schmemoir. If he wants to be interesting he should have a rap battle with Louis CK.
3
It'll be published in France.They clearly have a much more mature and liberal attitude to creative genius. I have no doubt they will refuse to be intimidated by a clear witch hunt and the braying MeToo mob...unlike the gutless celebrities distancing themselves.
13
Once again, Woody Allen's defenders have come out in full force, claiming "investigators [the Yale-New Haven Hospital Child Sex Abuse Clinic] found no evidence of sexual abuse."
However, in his 33-page decision, Judge Elliott Wilk, the presiding judge in Allen’s custody suit against Farrow, stated that Mr. Allen’s behavior toward Dylan was “grossly inappropriate and that measures must be taken to protect her.”
The clinic’s finding that Dylan had not been sexually molested was not accepted as reliable by Judge Wilk. The Yale-New Haven team consisted of two social workers and a pediatrician, Dr. John Leventhal, who signed off on the report but who never saw Dylan or Mia Farrow.
No psychologists or psychiatrists were on the panel. The social workers never testified; the hospital team only presented a sworn deposition by Dr. Leventhal, who did not even examine Dylan himself.
For more, see https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2014/02/woody-allen-sex-abuse-10-facts
I've know people who've been abused in various ways, and it's common for their experience to be discounted. It's horrible to be abused, but what's even worse is to not be believed.
20
@Pam Shira Fleetman- the judge is a politician. Who knows the backroom dealings that went on. As far as his not accpeting the conclusions , well too bad. He's not an expert. the experts made the conclusions, they were hired by the State Police. i trust the State Police and the experts, not this political hack of a judge.
8
@Pam Shira Fleetman
Please read the final conclusion of the courts. It's available in black and white.
1
@JL Farr: If you really want to know what the court said, read this: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/heres-the-1993-woody-alle_b_4746866
1
sure glad of that. something is right in the world
4
Interestingly, a lot of people who think he’s a pedophile say it’s because he was always creepy. Meanwhile, a lot of people who can’t believe someone IS an actual pedophile will tell you how utterly normal that person always appeared. Think Nassar and thousands of priests. So maybe “creepy” does not always mean pedophile, and maybe “normal” doesn’t always mean not criminal.
7
There is zero proof he did anything to his child
There is loads of evidence that farrow manufactured this as payback for dumping her for her adopted daughter
And yet, this lie seems to have stuck to him
he never was accused of abusing anyone besides this one child
which only happened after he ended it with farrow -
Farrow comes off as major league vindictive nut job in all this
I don't understand how this story has survived it all seems so blatantly implausible and it fits perfectly with a furious spurned spouse using the child to punish narrative
43
Consider the primary source of Woody's problems.
Mia Farrow spent most of her adult life latching onto and parasitically using prominent men--Frank Sinatra, Andre Previn and Woody Allen. She reportedly also used Philip Roth to ghostwrite her own "memoir."
In the case of Previn, Mia got pregnant to lure him away from his wife, who was supposedly her close friend. The wife had a nervous breakdown and went public about the whole sordid affair.
Woody Allen refused to marry Farrow even after she "accidentally" became pregnant again, with his son. He also humiliated her by preferring the much younger Soon-Yi. To get revenge, Mia concocted a child sex abuse story and brainwashed her young daughter into believing it. There have been no other such accusations against Allen, which would be highly unusual if Dylan's story were true. But it most likely isn't.
Mia Farrow is a person of dubious credibility, to put it mildly. She adopted a huge number of children so she could use them as accessories and pretend to be a saint. Several of the adopted kids met premature and sad ends.
The damage Mia Farrow can do to Woody Allen's career and his life is minimal compared to the damage she has done to the daughter she pretends to care about. Her crusade for vengeance doesn't accomplish anything. It certainly doesn't restore Mia to the "femme fatale" allure she used for decades to exploit men who, unlike her, had genuine talent. She's just a bitter old lady feeding off other people's pain.
93
@Carson Drew It was Frank Sinatra's son. She lied about that too.
8
Please stop lynching one of the greatest talent you have in the USA! You will regret it in the future when history will remember him as one of the geniuses born in the US. He is by far the best Director you will ever have and you’d better leave false accusations which are based on this utter self-destructive movement which has grown into psychotic behavior and permeated our world! I will always admire him and his unrivaled masterpieces despite all the petty and ill intended attitudes of mediocre people who have always being jealous of his privileged mind!
11
@Rafael Diez de Medina
Not to support his critics, but as a Frenchman are you suggesting that he's even better than "le génie" Jerry Lewis?
1
@calhouri By far, he is the best one and even better than Lewis. Not suggesting, affirming.
It's fascinating that the NYT Picks are, without exception, critical of Allen while the first several Readers Picks defend Woody Allen and praise his movies. As a NYT devotee I wonder if the Times, or I should say its oh-so correct staff, are fixated on a self-righteous moment. So Greg (from Troy) felt Allen was a "creep" while watching Annie Hall. Millions more did not, as the Readers Picks show. Annie Hall has remained on "best films" lists for over 40 years. Comments on the NYT Picks carry the smug, self-righteous weight of all those who cheered when Savonarola's torched the vanities, only to cheer again when Savonarola was himself burned at the stake.
13
@Allan They follow the "Party Line"...especially after they completely dropped the ball in the 2016 election. They're not called the "Grey Lady" for nothing.
4
@Allan Annie Hall? Have you seen “Manhattan”?
@Allan Op/Ed Times writer Nicholas Kristoff has been one of the leaders in the band wagon to vilify Mr. Allen mercilessly. I did not appreciate his National Enquirer -like tactics to drag Mr. Allen through the mud, exploiting Dylan Farrow in the process.
3
Of course, Mr. Allen could self-publish, or, even better, self-epublish his memoirs. It would cost practically nothing to do it and he could then either try to make some bucks, or, even better, put it into public domain. Woody, do you listen?
5
As an adult, one time in group therapy, I recalled being awakened as a small child with a beating by my mother, and I subsequently recalled a few other events of abuse. I told my several siblings. None believed me. Nevertheless, defining myself as a victim of physical abuse became a way of life. Then, one day years later a new therapist asked me, "What if the beatings never happened?" It was like a punch in the face. I was smart enough to know that memories can be undependable because the brain is hard wired to exaggerate events, and even invent events. But I NEEDED to see myself as a victim because it gave me excuses for not dealing with my own behavior and toxic blame. My life changed from that moment. I am not taking sides here, but when I read and watch Dylan Farrow's account of the event, I see myself when victim-hood had become my worldview and way of life, and a form of revenge. I'll never know whether or not I was physically abused, but I now question all my memories of traumatic events. Because of that, blame is no longer the center of who I am.
3
Anyone interested in Woody Allen's situation should read Mia Farrow's son Moses essay. He was there that day. One of the most powerful I have ever read. It describes four (4) deaths:
http://mosesfarrow.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-son-speaks-out-by-moses-farrow.html
The most in-depth, expert, neutral information available, the Yale clinic report prepared at the request of the police, states: “It’s our expert opinion that Dylan was not sexually assaulted by Mr. Allen. Further, we believe that Dylan’s statements on videotape and her statements to us during our evaluation do not refer to actual events that occurred to her on August 4, 1992.”
https://woodyallenmoblynching.com/dylan-farrow-sexual-abuse-yale-report/#yalenewhaven
The next most in-depth, expert, and neutral information available, from the New York State Department of Social Services who conducted a second independent 14-month-old investigation, concluded On October 7, 1993: “No credible evidence was found that the child named in this report has been abused or maltreated. This report has, therefore, been considered unfounded.”
Children are abused, and we must do everything we can to address these deepest betrayals. However Woody can at the same time be the innocent victim of a troubled ex. The first must never be justification for the second, or deep justice is wounded to all our great long term damage.
48
@William Stewart
There seems to be a preference for one story over two others
1
Who appointed the publishers as censors? Let the public vote on his book by buying or not buying.
4
"Freedom of the press is guaranteed to he who owns one." That`s it.
3
I would buy a Ronan Farrow autobiography in a NY minute.
15
On the plus side, we may have just been spared a tome by Mia.
5
Since accusations come out against him, and more pedophilia research came forth confirming that when children raise an alarm, they are almost always correct....
I had only watched one of his movies before then, and since — none.
Lost case, lost cause— just lost.
6
Isn't it bliss that publishers are shunning Woody Allen's memoirs? We've already had TMI about Woody Allen. We've read enough about him and his life and seen his 47 movies from A (Annie Hall) to Z (Zelig). We've watched him play his licorice stick at Michael's Pub (channeling Artie Shaw) and followed his chaotic life in the tabloid press, ate deli at the Carnegie Tavern. His chutzpah and narcissism have always been Godzillan as his Mom up in the sky above Manhattan. Woody isn't relevant or hallowed in our American culture these days. But maybe if he started Tweeting...
7
>>> "Woody isn't relevant or hallowed in our American culture these days."
Unintentional praise. A "culture" that judges art by its momentary "relevance" is no culture at all.
2
Treating WA as a criminal is itself criminal. And notice who is reporting this story.
The MeToo Star Chamber is still functioning.
3
The hypocrisy of these people in the entertainment world is truly breathtaking. How about Polanski winning oscars for the Pianist, despite his documented rape of a minor? Where are all the virtue signaling actors saying they deeply regret working with him? The reality is that nobody, not a single soul, is joining this lynch mob out of some feeling of moral conviction, they are all doing it out of pure self interest, because everybody is afraid of social media mobs and witch hunts. Is this really where we want to be as a society, where a mere unproven allegation can totally destroy someone? People in these industries really need to step up and stop being complete cowards. The kowtowing to outrage parasites on social media must stop before our culture further implodes.
6
Go to your library and get yourself a copy of “Stardust Memories,” the Woody Allen movie.
The opening scene, if you don’t already know, has Sandy Bates (Woody) in a railroad station stuck on a train full of sad, hopeless-looking people. Next track over, there is another train waiting to depart, this one full of happy, beautiful people who are in the middle of a wild party, all of us wish we had been invited to. Sharon Stone is one of them, and she blows him (and us) a kiss from afar.
Woody bangs on the windows and doors of the car he is on, trying everything he can to get out and join the wild party on the other train; but he -- and all of us watching the movie -- are trapped and cannot escape and join the party.
Woody Allen has had things to say in his career that were worth hearing, seeing, thinking and laughing about, and while I am not a movie critic or his lawyer, I believe he should still be allowed to, without having to deal with random, distant and never-proven accusations from his distant past.
And yes, I know he borrowed it from Fellini.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWD5NXPIRuo
15
Have you ever met Woody Allen? That's all I'm going to say.
3
He's offered $3 million and arrogantly rejects the offer saying "For this, I want a lot of money. The ball is in your court". The hubris! Who does he think he is, Shakespeare? Glad no trees were killed to publish a book about this self-important weirdo.
18
@Roberta Very dumb not to accept the offer. He must be so full of himself self. He is a narcissist.
2
I am more interested in erasing my memories of Woody and his twisted morality. Maybe he did nothing illegal but making a move on his current girlfriend's daughter is something from the Jerry Springer show and does not need to be memorialised.
18
woody old news who carew
Hollywood always prided itself on opposing black lists during the "Red Scare" and even made movies showcasing their defiance of it. Ironically, he even acted in a movie about what happened during that period ("The Front"). Not only is Hollywood blacklisting him but Amazon and publishers seem to be doing it too. Do we have to re-live an age of black lists all over again to remind ourselves why they are wrong? What has happened to Woody Allen is a moral crime.
7
Since when did publishers reject a book because the author was controversial?
4
@Bob Berkowitz
We're in a new time.
Things have changed.
1
I'm interested. Charge him with a crime, or leave him be.
3
Woody Allen is a literary and comic genius. He is so far above the other people mentioned in this story that it is ridiculous to come them.
Richard Wagner did not like Jews or the Jewish people. Should we not read his memoirs?
8
I think that he is a pedophile (and, btw, I thought so before Dylan accused him). However, I'm not opposed to him publishing a memoir. He could also self-publish; it's very easy to do so, now.
I would just hope that the total sales of any such memoir would be zero.
8
How, and why, can you make a charge like “pedophile” when the courts cannot?
What do you know that the legal system does not?
Please share it with the District Attorney.
Unsavory? Yes. But all of this was brought during a highly charged and publicized divorce.
“Pedophile?”
That’s beyond harsh, with no substantiation.
Careful on the slippery slope of accusations.
4
It makes me sick to hear people say he is acquitted nothing happened here. Our justice system is not just ...if you have money you can get away with literally murder. For those that defend him ..he “accidentally “ left out nude photos of his partners child/ daughter that he wAs having an affair with out in the open to be found . A decent or moral person, would not do that ....if nothing else because of this who in their right mind would want to read a book about such a creepy guy.
12
Pedophiles don’t stop after one kid one time. Rather they do it multiple times to multiple children like Larry Nassar. It’s a compulsion and an illness. But no one’s ever accused Allen beside Dylan Farrow, and she has only ever brought up one instance of alleged abuse. Hence we can legitimately question if her story is true.
31
This conflation of artist and art is the cultural equivalent of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Caravaggio killed a man, William S. Burroughs killed his wife, Shakespeare plagiarized, TS Eliot disliked Jews, Conrad and Kipling were imperialists, Hemingway was a misogynist, Lewis Carroll liked little girls, Oscar Wilde liked Alfred Douglas, O. Henry was an embezzler, Norman Mailer brought us Jack Abbott, and the majority of Western writers at least through the first half of the 20th C. were white men who believed themselves superior to women and people of color in every way. Are we to stop admiring or reading their works as a result? I'm not.
6
I think he should pen his memoirs and leave it to time to allow the story to be told.
Floating the idea was about getting money.
I loved his movies and and once was one of six people in a room with him Mia and Satchel
And had a chance to nod a hello.
An odd story with odd people and bad choices
2
He could always self-publish. My guess is that the book would sell. And once that happens one of the Big 5 will rush at him with a six-figure deal.
4
The statement in this article that "investigators found no evidence that "Investigators found no evidence of sexual abuse," is grossly misleading. In fact, according to a Vanity Fair article on the case, "The Connecticut state police, the state attorney, and Judge Wilk all had serious reservations about the report’s reliability." Additionally, according to the same article, "The state attorney, Maco, said publicly he did have probable cause to press charges against Allen but declined, due to the fragility of the “child victim.” Maco told me that he refused to put Dylan through an exhausting trial, and without her on the stand, he could not prosecute Allen." https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2014/02/woody-allen-sex-abuse-10-facts
4
Vanity Fair is not a reliable source of information; it’s a celebrity version of the National Enquirer, and Maureen Orth is not Susan Sontag. If you dig a little deeper you will find what most readers commenting here have concluded: WA did not molest his daughter Dylan. However, her uncle John Farrow is currently in jail for molestation. Connect the dots.
6
@jean connect dots?? Why defend a man who already was immoral enough to leave out nude photos of his partners young daughter that he was having an affair with?? I believe Dylan how bout you connect the dots and take the blinders off
1
@Denise Clapsaddle
what about his story?
http://mosesfarrow.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-son-speaks-out-by-moses-farrow.html
2
The sad part is that he was cleared by the courts of the accusation. Considering this is the only accusation of this sort ever pursued against him, one would think being exonerated would have put it to rest. With no proof, the vindictive Mia Farrow is maliciously bent on punishing him for spurning her.
14
It’s one thing to marry his 19 year old step daughter. It’s quite another to inappropriately touch his 7 year old child. Many older women like younger men and, conversely, many older men like younger women. That makes neither perverts nor pedophiles.
The argument that Mia Farrow brainwashed her kids into believing Allen committed a sex crime should not nonchalantly be dismissed. Was she not a woman scorned? Was she not a younger woman attracted to several older men? Male pedophiles typically (not necessarily always) are serial pedophiles. There’s never been any other allegation by anyone else of sexual misconduct, at least to my knowledge. And if the guy’s innocent...?
7
@Regards, LC Soon-Yi was not his stepdaughter. He and Mia never married, never even lived together and Soon-Yi was adopted by Mia and André Previn.
If we take all the artists and intellectual products that we know about, throughout history, and subject them to this century's current morals, our museums' walls would be stripped, there'd be no fiction, no movies, nothing worth banning and sneering at anymore. Where's the book banning being held this week?
10
how anybody could feel confident either side is right baffles me.
6
@brupic I agree with you on that--and regardless of what actually happened, it should never have become something for the public to chew over. But Mariel Hemingway's recollections of working with Woody Allen tell me all I need to know about him.
1
@junewell
no doubt he has a rep.
however, i've thought for many years there's something a bit off about farrow so neither have complete credibility for me
1
Woody Allen married his girlfriend’s adopted daughter and wondered why this was considered a big deal. So I guess it would be OK for one of his closest friends, aged 55 or so to come in, bed, then marry, one of his 19 or 20 year old adopted daughters. After all, they’re not related, so what would be the big deal?
6
Woody Allen,no accusation before the offense,none after.If this man was guilty,don’t you think he would have more offenses?Wouldn’t this be horrible if the man’s life has been torched by a child who was misdirected.No justice on the horizon for woody if he is innocent,only a verdict in the court of public opinion.
Thank You,
J Fitz
2
long before all this came out, I never saw the humor in his work and found him creepy. I guess there was nothing illegal with what he did, but he is no one I'd want in my circle of friends. Sorry fans.
7
@Jim Z
No sorry necessary, Jim, as I'm quite sure neither Mr. Allen nor his fans care about your "circle of friends".
2
@GaryT. Really. I don't know you and you don't know me. But we know who Mr Allen is.
1
Sounds to me like Woody Allen played hardball with the publishing industry about 20 years ago -- demanding more money, getting a contract and then, from what I'm told, reneging on writing the thing.
Now he's going back to the well, hat in hand and saying: hey, does anyone want this thing? But people remember what he did before, and it's a different business now. So this is where we're at.
11
One hates to be merely mercenary but how much of an audience would his memoir have now? My impression as a New York area resident for a lifetime is that his humor, his film plots, his characters, his style of storytelling has not translated or traveled well. Here I mean the Multiplex audience and suburban and small town moviegoers. I'd bet many have never viewed anything by him.
Sure the film school, art house, urban, affluent, educated types have seen much of his output. But how many millennial and Gen Z buyers would there be for such a book? He's an old man to them and much of his work was popular before their birth. Fame is fickle, and often our culture is always pursuing the bright shiny new thing.
12
A questionable and myopic perspective; what you speak of is not the audience to which he appealed.
6
@Unworthy Servant A lot of those of us who write books do not write for money or for an audience. If a person needs to write a memoir, they can do so and someone can publish it or they can publish it themselves or just leave it unpublished.
The treatment of Woody Allen by Hollywood/celebrities or whatever you want to call it is a modern day witch hunt. I am a strong supporter of Me Too and I support many of the women who have come out against sexual assault. However I also think that like anything really we should exercise some common sense and also consider what has gone on in court, as well as other factors.
Obviously I don’t have the insight of being in Allen’s house (or Mia Farrow’s) nor did I witness the court hearings but from what I have read in to it accusations against Allen are false. For instance the fact that he was acquitted in two states / found innocent. Also Moses Farrow’s comments on the situation.
Women who have come out in Me Too are courageous, brave individuals. But we must be cautious in making allegations or we risk undermining the movement. It’s trendy to ostracise Allen now as it was once trendy to appear in his films. It is the done thing in Hollywood. I am sure many of us can agree that his relationship with Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter is strange in its nature, but it doesn’t make Allen a sex offender/paedophile/abusive person.
From plenty of cases during Me Too it is clear that many sex offenders commit various offences, Allen has never been accused of anything else despite working with hundreds of actresses. I urge anyone to read up more on the events before making conclusions about Allen.
99
@Ella
Not all of the women who come out with allegations are "courageous, brave individuals." Some of them are simply vindictive and imbalanced. MeToo has provided an outlet for their neuroses.
Some good people have been badly hurt by this movement because it has terrified those who know better and might have offered a counter argument but would rather go with the pack than be targeted themselves.
6
Consider this:
In 1981, Random House published In the Belly of the Beast by Jack Henry Abbott. Abbott, a career criminal with convictions for manslaughter, bank robbery, and forgery, found a sponsor for his prison memoir in Norman Mailer. Mailer helped secure Abbott's parole and a book deal. A Random House editor wrote a letter that helped secure Abbott's release. Just a few weeks after leaving prison, Abbott stabbed a young man to death on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This was shortly after his book was published. He was sent back to prison for the rest of his life. Still, Random House's paperback division subsequently published a version of the book.
It remains in print today.
Presumably, Random House was one of the major publishing houses that declined to consider Allen's memoir, an autobiography that likely spans more that a half century of television and film history by one of the industry's most influential artists.
32
He was twice thoroughly investigated and fully acquitted. If you don't take that in consideration it means you want him to be guilty. Sorry to disappoint, but he isn't. That's what the law says, and he should not be held accountable for something no one can prove actually happened. His personal choices are not for me to judge. Even if he has shocked many by falling in love and marrying his adopted daughter, he wouldn't be the first or the last. It can happen, and it doesn't make him a monster. Save your ire for those who are proved guilty in a court if law and deserve it. Eventually, someone will publish his memoirs and I look forward to reading it.
83
@Valerie Pires
I agree with much of what you say. BUT, just because someone isn't found guilty by a court, doesn't mean they aren't guilty. There's that famous murder case in 1995....
4
@Valerie Pires
Michale Jackson was exonerated as well, wasn’t he?
A court of law is not the court of justice, for pedophiles, it is the society. And research and evidence proves in such cases that when children come forward, they are not lying.
6
@Valerie Pires Was she HIS adopted daugher? I thought she was the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Andre Previn.
I believe it's Dylan Farrow who was his adopted daughter, and his only adopted daughter as far as I know.
10
Because, when it comes to the presumption of punitive action based on specious rationales, nothing goes higher than the court of social media.
16
Even if we start by believing, we shouldn't suspend reason as we look at these cases. The accusations against Woody Allen, unlike many of the other celebrity sex abuse cases, are fairly weak, with substantial countervailing evidence. Unlike many of the other cases, these accusations were actually reviewed and found to be not worthy of prosecution. Given the facts we know, I would not trust anyone who presumes Allen's guilt to be on a jury.
31
Investigated...no evidence. If there is new evidence, bring it forward. Innocent until proven guilty.
100
@Hastings: You can't see evidence if you ignore it. Read the testimony of his victims and family members. That will change your opinion.
19
@Stanley Gomez:
Nothing you posted as any relevance to Hastings' request for evidence.
The Connecticut State Police investigated the accusations at the time, and found nothing to support them. Furthermore they found indications that DF's description of the "event" was couched.
So a retelling of the tale sans new evidence is not evidence.
Submitted May 2nd 2019 6:10 PM eastern
25
Yes , those police and our courts are so fair and unbiased.
2
My guess is that like other great artists of the 20th Century who had very mixed-up and controversial personal lives (like Pablo Picasso, Charley Chaplin, Tallulha Bankhead, Mark Rothko, Roman Polanski to name just a few) the genius of Woody Allen's work will far out live the sordid details; and that future generations will recognize their work long after the controversies fade away.
95
@Birddog: You have to actually *be* a great artist to outlive the"sordid details" of your life.
5
>>> ". . . the sordid details . . ."
Better to say, "the sordid accusations."
But, you're absolutely correct: Woody Allen is a genius for the ages and his work will long outlast the current controversy.
14
@Birddog Yea, pretty much. This isn't too dismiss the allegations against Allen, but in the end, his work will outlive us all.
6
A sad injustice, whether these publishers made their decisions based cowardice, mental laziness or ignorance.
125
@Sixofone
They made the decision because they didn’t think it would make money.
3
@Sixofone
It's not an injustice, it's a business decision.
1
Unlike so many of the figures in #MeToo, Woody Allen was thoroughly investigated at the time of his alleged crime and the authorities pressed no charges. I'm not aware of other accusations of a similar nature during the twenty-plus years since. He seems doomed to carry around a public badge of "guilt" over a crime that never existed. An existential situation that would make a good Woody Allen movie.
221
@RS Yet when you hear the victim describe it, she is something Woody is not: believable. (And who marries his adopted daughter? Really? Allen is the Ted Nugent of filmmaking.)
11
Self-publish, Woody. I'll buy the book as will many hundreds of thousands worldwide. It will be number one on Amazon and won't that be sweet justice for their feckless blackballing.
156
@Haynannu
Millions.
4
Child molestation is not “a private war between parents.” Dylan Farrow knows what happened when she was 7 and as an adult, she courageously shared her trauma. And comparing the shunning of Elizabeth Taylor for her sexual peccadilloes to the abhorrent crime of sexual molestation of a child by Allen is a gross moral failing. Allen deserves no Hollywood comeback story.
190
@April C The question is, is she sharing her recollections, or is she sharing what her mother told her happened?
115
@April C "Dylan Farrow knows what happened...." If you were knowledgable or intellectually honest -- I can't know which -- you would note that the Yale University sexual abuse experts brought in on the matter found that the accusation was not credible, and implied that one of the warring parents likely prompted the accusation from the youngster. You would also know that such false accusations are not at all uncommon in contentious divorce/custody matters.
43
@April C Exactly. And I believe Ronan Farrow over Woody any day.
12
I was in my 20s when I first saw Annie Hall, By the end of the movie, all I could think was "Wow, this guy is a creep!" Seriously, half his movies are him self-inserting into a role as an older man with much younger female love interest. Pair that with the knowledge that he married his own adoptive daughter and the allegations of abuse of his own biological child, and that's all you really need to know about this guy. Woody needs us more than we need him.
422
@Greg The movies, yes. The content of the movies. Before the accusation, in the interim between re-asserting the accusation, and after. Have we not watched them? I always felt strange saying this, though I felt it was convincing grist to the mill about what the truth might be about how he sees power and sexuality in relation to those around him. Now it feels like the sentiment has more fertile ground.
12
@Greg Totally agree! And I’m not so sure about the genius part. He has his core supporters but time will tell if his films gain gravitas.
28
@Greg
You must've seen a different Annie Hall than I saw. Mine showed a romance between two adults played by Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.
Furthermore Soon Yi is NOT his "adoptive daughter." He never adopted her or raised her. (Her father was Andre Previn.) If your opinion is to have credibility, it might be helped along by knowing the facts.
204
Sleeping with your wife or lover’s adopted daughter: disgusting and disqualifying for someone who wants to be on the public stage.
I don’t even need to speculate about the other allegations.
224
@Patricia Brown
Yes, I am sick and tired of people circling and curtsy and kissing up to him. He cannot be a bigger person. He is who he is for all the world to see.
18
Woody Allen's relationship with his then step daughter Soon Yi Previn is all I need to know about him regardless of the allegations by his daughter Dylan Farrow.
And how does Soon Yi get a pass all these years getting romantically involved with her Mother's boyfriend?
112
@mlb4ever
My God, the idiocy never ends. Soon-Yi PREVIN was NOT his step-daughter - she was the adopted child of Andre PREVIN and Mia Farrow. He played no part in her upbringing. I know, facts, but there they are.
17
Soon yi was not Woody’s step daughter. He and Mia were not married. That’s all there is there. More surprising to me was the pretense that Ronen Farrow was Woody’s son. Now that’s deception! Does Mia lose any points for this?
16
@mlb4ever- Soon Yi was NOT his step-daughter. As for the rest. You'd be disqualified from all types of jury duty. Facts don't matter . Only, accusations, rumor, gossip and Press releases, by the accuser.
7
Good. He is not someone I need to hear from……
The absolute NICEST thing I can say about him is that he cheated on the mother of his children with her barely legal daughter.
That's the nicest thing I can say.
……so let's leave it right there.
156
@Gwe
Good because if the book were published you would NEED to read it?
4
@Gwe
Her "barely legal" adopted daughter was twenty-one when they began their relationship. The legal age of consent in NY is seventeen - hardly barely legal and Soon-Yi was not HIS child or his adopted child and he played no part in her upbringing. You don't have to like him or the situation but stop spreading untruths.
18
@Gwe- mother of his children? Incorrect, again. He had no fatherly relationship with any of them. Ronan is Sinatra's kid, not his . Another lie Mia told to the public. He lived in his own home, not Farrow's. Get your facts straight please.
9
I wonder why he doesn't publish it himself? I would read it.
26
I don't think this fits as another #MeToo case. If an accused perpetrator of sexual misconduct has many or several accusers, then we are right to at least hold the accused as suspect. A trend indicates--though may not prove--moral turpitude. In Woody's case, he was going through fierce court battles for custody of their children. Mia's vicious hatred of Woody was on full display. He was investigated with no revelation of wrongdoing. And he even took, and passed, a lie detector test. Mia was asked to take one and she refused. Child psychiatrists will tell us that a 7-year-old is susceptible to believing false narratives even involving herself if persuaded by a respected adult. This is a one-off accusation. Impossible to know the truth. Either Dylan Farrow or Woody Allen is telling the truth. With a 50-50, I choose not to negate an artist's substantial lifetime of achievements and contributions to American culture. But I remain open to changing my mind if definitive evidence were to arise in either one's favor.
156
@JD I believe Dylan. (Sounds like a Twitter hash tag.)
3
@WesTex- coerced annd manipulated by Farrow, in my opinion. Read Moses Farow's book. when he was a teenager he defended Dylan and Mia. As an adult he realized that the accusations were false and described the living conditions under Mia Farrow's roof. I don't believe Dylan or Mia or Ronan. Woody's innocent.
13
@JD I'm with you on this one. This is the most reasoned of all the comments here.
2
Hollywood and the publishing world are both full of hypocrites. Everyone has been aware for years and years that Woody Allen has questionable morals--he did, after all, seduce on the sly his girlfriend's(Mia Farrow) adopted teenaged daughter, whom he is now married to. Now, however, after everyone has suddenly become "woke" due to the Me Too movement, Mr. Allen is now poison to both industries because of suspected sexual abuse years ago of his adopted daughter when she was a child. I have enjoyed his movies over the years and would be very interested in reading an autobiography of his, especially if it focused more on his work. I respect and admire him as an artist; I don't have to admire him as a person to appreciate his talents.
17
@Sophie
Sophie, "questionable morals" not only defines much of Hollywood. It may be obligatory.
1
@Sophie
Well, and I guess that IS the difference with me: I DO have to "admire him as a person to appreciate his talents." Especially when the admiration requires that I okay child abuse.
4
@Sophie
Adopted teenage daughter? You think twenty-one is teenaged? That's when they began their relationship.
4
I didn’t look this up just now but as I remember, I think “investigators”, the social workers & psychologists who worked with Dylan, actually did find evidence of abuse. I think it was prosecutors who declined to pursue charges, against Mia Farrow’s wishes.
19
@Paula. It's the other way around: the investigators (including social workers & psychologists) found no evidence, but an attorney thought they could still prosecute him, but decided not to (a decision Mia agreed with). A judiciary panel later said that the attorney's statements about still being able to prosecute him were unfounded and inappropriate.
11
@Paula
Yes, and a lot of notes suspiciously went "missing."
There's absolutely no question he has always been interested in young girls, way too young for him.
2
Even if one deems it unproven about his “daughter”, any man in a long term relationship with an adult women who becomes involved with her 17 yr old adopted daughter, hides it, and then they proclaim their “love”, is a strange and slightly perverted man. For someone who has avoided the limelight for years to suddenly want to publish his memoirs, sounds to me he wants to salvage his legacy. Too late; if it was fiction I would not read it, but that it would be about him and his unnatural obsession with women too young for him, let your movies be your legacy. And I am not a prude by any means, but Mr. Allen hits too close to the bone in this age of female empowerment.
71
@Mary Naglr
Previn was 21 when the relationship began. Doesn't necessarily change your overall point, but it's a fairly significant difference.
21
Previn was adopted at age 21? Otherwise the relationship with Allen started much younger. Fact. Also if Michael Jackson can be found guilty 10 years after he died, why the hand wringing over Allen?
20
Heavens to Betsy! Mia was revisiting her previous husband all while having a relationship with Woody. Such judgmental comments! So Woody found the love of his life and has been a devoted caring husband.
Elaineweaves
7
I haven't really followed the problems of Woody Allen. I've only known about them from a side eye. Reading this piece here though, the man has ample talent and although especially in this present day #metoo time he can't get his latest manuscript published, he's far from washed up. No tears need be cried for him; he'll be fine.
6
The question of whether Allen molested a child is still a matter of contention. I find the evidence compelling but I understand why others may not. But what isn't a he said, she said question is his marriage. Unconventional as the Mia Farrow relationship was there is no disputing the fact that he was in a long term relationship with the adopted mother of his eventual spouse. There is no disputing that he was, unconventional yes, a father figure to her children and the moment she became of legal age he began a relationship with Farrow's adopted child. Because there is no blood relationship everything he did was 100% legal but the idea that any man or woman involved in a blended family would consider the adopted children as a possible dating pool is disgusting. Roy Moore was a minor leauger as far as ignoring basic adult male, teen age girl norms.
41
@KJ Peters. I looked into a lot of this story, because I was curious about it and wanted to understand it better before forming an opinion. Many of the descriptions people give of the relationship are inaccurate or exaggerated. For example, Woody Allen never lived in the same household as Soon-Yi Previn, and she and her siblings (according to them) never viewed him as a father figure. He was largely not part of their lives. Also, Soon-Yi was in her early 20s when she began a sexual relationship with Allen, so hardly "barely legal," although it does seem that Allen took an interest in her in her late teens. It's definitely an unusual situation, but the two have also remained married all these years. So I don't really know how to judge it. Age differences don't bother me (I personally have always preferred older men, and found them to be much better partners than men my own age) but of course the family dynamic, from an outside perspective, is uncomfortable. However, it was and still is a consenting relationship between two adults, the youngest of whom was in college.
11
@KJ Peters
I think 'unconventional' is the key concept behind the Woody Allen-Mia Farrow relationship - she a weird lady who'd had a series of relationships with famous and powerful men and who seemed to compulsively collect adopted children, he an auteur with an ongoing, unseemly interest in teenage girls (though I'm not aware of any allegations of him ever breaking any age of consent laws). I think they co-existed in a completely different relational universe than ordinary people, one in which his marriage to Soon Yi (which has now lasted over 20 years, for what it's worth) probably isn't as outrageous as it seems from the outside. Dylan's allegations seem to me more likely to be based in false memory after thorough coaching from Mia; pedophiles don't typically limit themselves to a single act with a single child, and there have never been any allegations that Allen ever molested any other children.
12
Oh poof! Mia was in a long term relationship with Woody during which she managed to meet her previous husband on Mount Olympus. Give me a break!
It's difficult to believe the testimony or memories of a 7-year old. I choose not to believe her, and I believe Mr. Allen. Her story makes little sense. I watched the interview with her, and I thought it was a performance. She seems to have animus against Mr. Allen. I don't think she remembers a thing, though she may believe she does.
If I were a publisher, I would publish him in a second. Today, I can't believe that there aren't other, maybe even more effective, ways to publish, given our digital world. I bet if Mr. Allen found a way to publish his memoirs, he would sell many million copies (downloads).
And, here we go again. The piling on is disgusting. All those accusers and their supporters are so pure? And what about Mia Farrow’s role in all this? As my Hispanic female housekeeper says, “Beware of angry mujeres”.
A mere accusation is again potentially enough to ruin a man’s life. I trust Mr. Allen will not allow that to happen to him.
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@John Xavier III
"She seems to have animus against Mr. Allen."
Ya think? I'd have animus too against someone who molested me. Your reasoning seems a bit askew.
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@John Xavier III
When you have told you story repeatedly, over many, many years, it isn't going to sound "fresh." It's impossible to judge something like this years later from how some one looks and sounds today .
There is also a thing that happens even with adults: once you give an explanation or run through a story, whether or not it is accurate, your memories start to conform with the narrative you set out. And we tend to explain thing so to ourselves in narratives, where facts can get distorted as we try to make sense of what happened.
There is another thing: it is possible that some of his behaviors towards Dylan were inappropriate and made her uncomfortable, but wouldn't be seen as abuse.
He violated a major social/sexual norm by courting, then marrying, his girlfriend's daughter, Soon Yi. Whether he is capable of recognizing this or not, he was around with his other children, and and Mia Farrow, and he WAS a father figure. That might even have been part of his appeal to Soon Yi. Mia Farrow -per stories - sounds like she may not have been the most stable of mothers - and she had IMO too many children to provide the kind of personal they crave.
The accusation would have carried less weight had he prudently abstained from a relationship with a too-young women - from the same household he was once considered a part of.
He wasn't able to exercise that prudence.
18
@John Xavier III I would also have "animus" towards a person who penetrated me without my consent.
4
Maybe Allen should just self-publish it. He certainly has the money to do so.
8
It’s fascinating how certain fans of Woody Allen can’t even acknowledge the possibility that the molestation accusation are true. I don’t know if they are, but it’s certainly possible. People denying the possibility of Allen’s guilt reminds me a lot of the blind allegiance that Trump supporters have for the president. Both groups just know their guy has to be innocent.
29
@David,
I think Individual One is a despicable human being and sociopath liar.Woody no allegiance to but believe he could be getting a bum rap.He has not been accused of this offense before or after.Don’t believe it will change.Would be open to concrete evidence either way.
Thank You,
J Fitz
2
@david, but unlike trump, Allen has been investigated (even agreeing to a lie-detector test,) and found to be innocent of the accusations.
3
@David
People denying the possibility of Allen’s guilt ...
Possibility of guilt ... oh my! you can sentence many people to death with this "proof".
Maybe he should just put the book online and allow people to read it if they want or not read it if that is their choice
4
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Allen was cleared of any wrongdoing by investigators in two states almost thirty years ago. Yet people who weren't even born at the time are now intent on destroying him because they know better? It's also worth noting that Allen has one accuser - for most molesters or sexual predators (Cosby, Trump, Weinstein etc) it is a way of life that they see nothing wrong with and multiple accusers eventually come forward. This lynch mob mentality, that pays no regard to official investigations, is sad and somewhat frightening.
51
@George Haig Brewster
"Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?" Nothing. It's still present -- and valued -- in courts of law.
In the court of public opinion, however, it holds no power.
Thus it has always been. And should be.
1
So easy to self-publish nowadays. Open a simple website to sell eBooks.. people will buy. Including myself. I for one would love to read Allen's most likely acerbic and darkly warped, surely humorous take on his own remarkable life.
7
A man as famous as Woody Allen doesn't need a "publisher" when he can self-publish his memoir. I know I would buy it and read it.
11
Whatever the truth of the allegations against Allen, his movies have long since become pretentious, tedious bores. Likewise his pieces in The New Yorker. Allen is a talented comedian who fancies himself another Ingmar Bergman. The distance between the two is vast. At this point, he should stick to the clarinet.
317
@Jeffrey Waingrow
Not a very good idea. Woody Allen's clarinet playing is pedestrian at best. He used to have a Monday evening residency at a club on the East Side of Manhattan. The music was unspectacular.
27
What does this have to do with the price of potatoes?
16
@Jeffrey Waingrow,
This is reminiscent of a queue in 'Annie Hall' to see a movie, and a pontificating man standing behind Woody and Diane is trying to impress his date with all kinds of nonsense. It is one of the highlights, memorable to this viewer, and there is something perverse about this ongoing Woody Allen Persecution Complex.
25
the moment he had an affair then married his adoptive daughter was the last straw for me. his movies that depicted him in relationships with young girls was disgusting but his marriage to hiss partner's daughter was beyond reprehensible. i was a big fan not anymore.
109
@Port The fact that they have been married for twenty years and have adopted two children doesn't affect your judgment? Son Yi Previn who is very private spoke out last September in a New York magazine story. Google it to see if it may change your judgment.
3
I have always believed Allen throughout the accusations. And I also believe one of the other children who has solidly sworn that the stories are all fabrication. What would he possibly have to gain by doing that? Allen was acquitted of all charges. But there is still this need by Farrow to destroy his career. Sadly, she may be succeeding.
So, so easy to claim that you "are sorry to have worked with him" after you get acclaim for doing so. How convenient to jump on that bandwagon. Good for Bardem and Huston. I applaud them.
I would buy that memoir in a heartbeat.
140
@Barbara Johansen Newman
It never went to trial, so it is inaccurate to say he was acquitted of all charges.
3
@rlschle
I suggest a simple google of the legal assault allegations and how they were dismissed.
2
I read both sides of this case, at least what was publicly available, the actual testimony as well as the he said she said stuff. It seemed to me like it was thoroughly and properly investigated by competent and impartial persons. I then looked at it subjectively, and still found that that accusations didn't seem to hold up. Unfortunately, it's a terrible situation regardless of what you believe did or did not happen. Dylan Farrow believes it happened. The court and Woody say it didn't. Allen is admittedly hurt living with the continued accusations, the torch continuing to be held by her brother. Fame no doubt has made this even more tragic. How many people who have been actually abused or accused of abuse have their stories play out in public like this?
13
@Aspen
No court said Woody didn't do it. He wasn't tried.
@Aspen hard to say, but I imagine none of them have married their partner's young daughter. Creepy, though not illegal.
He should publish his memoir himself. Amazon provides a simple platform for self-publishing, and people who want to read his book could do so without paying a middle man.
(Imho, his movies are not holding up.)
9
@Pecan I think he has lost a great deal of his audience along the way and I doubt the younger generations are all that interested in him. I would not be interested in his book. He is old news.
3
@Anne
Agree. I wouldn't read his memoir, either, but if it's written, he might as well publish it on Amazon KDP. Make a little money.
3
I think Allen's memoir would be a pretty interesting read, given the length of his career, his work on television and in stand up, and of course his films. I'm not even much of a fan, but I'd read it. What this article actually does, perhaps inadvertently, is indict publishing's typical practice of extending gigantic advances to books that then have to sell in the hundreds of thousands even to come close to earning them back. Of course they don't want it. Someone should offer Allen a more imaginative deal: no advance, a 25% royalty on the first 75,000 hardcover copies sold, 30% on anything over.
6
Woody Allen has sixty years in comedy and the movie business, no small number of them at the pinnacle of both. How interesting, how valuable his personal take on his life, his work, and the people he has known would be. It's a shame that an incendiary but entirely unproven accusation against him, one that I personally don't believe, can scare publishers away from such a potentially fascinating book. I hope this memoir eventually sees the light of day. I can guarantee it will sell at least one copy.
83
I’d say “could be,” because memoirs written at the end of a long and varied career are often notable for their shocking lack of introspection, honesty or self awareness. What would interest me more is a really great Allen biography.
5
Why can't the people defending men like Woody Allen by giving them the benefit of the doubt, at least extend the same courtesy to the victims they are accused of abusing? If you accept that there's something off about a person, because almost no one invents these types of accusations, then isn't it simply logical to admit that there is some nugget of truth in whatever the accuser/victim/survivor is saying?
52
@lmsh -- "almost no one invents these types of accusations." Maybe invent isn't the correct word, but a lot of people have faulty memories, especially when coerced by someone else. I'm not weighing in on innocence or guilt on this, only that false accusations are common.
20
@lmsh: If you are saying that it is logical to both believe that Allen is innocent and believe that he's not innocent, it's not logical, because he can't be both. It would be logically inconsistent to believe both of those things.
1
He did marry the 17 year old adopted daughter if his former partner. A girl he in part raised himself.
6
not interested or simply afraid of the big journalistic/social networkist backlash that would inevitably ensue ?
Vox populi and cowardice are preventing interesting voices to be heard (not to diminish whatever ills he may have committed, if we know one day...)
11
The day will come — and probably sooner than many now imagine possible — when the story of this new “scoundrel time” will be told. And what a story it will be: an epic of deceit, betrayal, avarice and, above all, cowardice. Woody Allen’s comic genius and his best films will be appreciated for decades to come. His victimization will be recalled with shame and sadness. Woody Allen’s persecutors and those who deserted him will not be so fondly remembered.
206
@Morris
I very much doubt it. History does not show that to be the case - more and more women who, like me, were teens or younger when Manhattan first came out are now finally able to speak up and say how profoundly uncomfortable that story made them. Whether or not these allegations are true, what IS true is that Woody Allen has always been weird around young girl and that his behavior "romancing" his current wife, who was the daughter of his then longer romantic partner, is simply disgusting.
18
@Maia Haines
You must really hate Harold and Maude then.
8
@Morris Oh, gosh. He'll have to change his name to Fatty Arbuckle. I stand alongside who were deeply creeped out and uncomfortable with "Manhattan." Talk about art imitating life.
6
I very much like Mr. Allen's films. As a person, not so much. We only get so many trips around the sun and cashing in on one's celebrity in the twilight of one's life is a little unseemly for someone of Mr. Allen's stature anyway. In an era where reality has rendered satire largely irrelevant, the devolution of one's work into self-parody perhaps doesn't sell as well as the salami at Katz's Deli. Enough existential linguistic meanderings. I think I hear the far-off dulcet tunes of Cole Porter or Benny Goodman playing.
15
Woody remains a creative and cultural hero for me. Films such as Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Annie Hall, Broadway Danny Rose, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Purple Rose of Cairo, Vicki Christina Barcelona, Blue Jasmine, Alice, Zelig, Sleeper, Radio Days, and many more are among the most incisive, probing, deeply stirring, and sometime brilliantly hilarious films ever made.
While marrying his then 19-year-old step-daughter didn't help his public image much, they have stayed together all the years since in what appears to be a loving nurturing relationship.
"The last time I was inside a woman was when I visited the Statue of Liberty."
"What if nothing exists and we’re all in somebody’s dream? Or what’s worse, what if only that fat guy in the third row exists?"
"Those who can’t do, teach, and those who can’t teach, teach gym."
118
@sol hurok
Soon-Yi Previn was never Woody's step-daughter. She was Mia Farrow and Andre Previn's adopted daughter. Woody never married Mia. Soon-Yi wasn't 19 when they got married. She was a 21-year old adult when the relationship began, and much older when they got married.
16
@sol hurok
For the record, she was not his stepdaughter - he was not married to her mother, and nor did he live with them.
10
@sol hurok
"And uh, of course, those who couldn't do anything, I think, were assigned to our school."
I was grossed out to learn that the Isaac/Tracy relationship in Manhattan was based on a real-life experience... but it's still one of my favorite films.
Talent doesn't always come in the most savory package. Separate the art from the artist, right?
4
“Investigators found no evidence of sexual abuse.” How do we square that with Dylan’s accusations? Was the investigation flawed or has she been manipulated by her mother? I guess in the end it doesn’t matter. His career is over. Unlike the stars who made comebacks, as far as I know, none of them was accused of touching a little girl inappropriately. Even in our fickle culture, once you cross that line there’s no coming back. As for the memoir, self-publishing doesn’t have the stigma it used to have. If it’s a good read and there’s some public enthusiasm for it, a small publisher might pick it up. There’s plenty of room in our low-brow culture for another salacious read by a disgraced celebrity.
12
@AlNewman
A lot of sexual abuse allegations are very hard to prove or disprove, period, leaving some allegations floating around forever. And if I remember correctly, these are allegations about inappropriate touching. we outsiders will never know.
He could self publish, and would find an audience; otherwise his memoir will become a hot property when he dies. . .
2
@AlNewman You could read what their son, Moses, has written about life in the Farrow household.
12
@Verity Makepeace
And you can also read what their son Ronan has written.
3
It's not pretty.
You admire films like Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, and the rest -- all of them classics. But sleeping with his partner's daughter (Soon Yi) while he was still in a relationship with the mother (Mia Farrow) is beyond the pale.
Still, he and Soon Yi (who have been married for over 20 years) have adopted two children. I suspect they got a more thorough vetting than most prospective parents do.
I don't think I would like Woody Allen as a person and his recent films have not been that good. But I believe in the long run, his artistry and talent will be appreciated and respected more than they are now.
67
“ Investigators found no evidence of sexual abuse”. It is a bedrock of our justice system that, unless proven guilty in a court of law ( not public opinion), an individual is not guilty. As much as I find Allen skeevy in his private life ( taking up with the child of his partner), he is not guilty of child molestation in the eyes of the law.
73
@Maggie Not only that, there is much publicly-available evidence suggesting -- in my opinion, quite strongly --that the specific sexual abuse charge leveled against Allen was false, and likely engendered by his ex out of the most vindictive, if understandable, motives.
18
@Maggie
Former partner at the time.
1
This is bad news. I love Woody Allen's films and would purchase his biography in a nano second. I don't believe the accusations made about him. If his memoir is finally published then the people who are appalled by his alleged behavior should refrain from buying it.
203
I struggle with this the art versus the artist.
I can think of so many directors whose films I love but have done (or may have done) horrible things. Nicholas Ray, Elia Kazan but I love their films. I still love woody Allen films and would read his memoir to get the background on how they where made.
31
I would love to read a memoir of his, provided it mostly stuck to his professional experiences. The man is an artistic genius, but his private life is notably notorious.
2
Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Broadway Danny Rose, Sleeper, Bananas, Take the Money and Run, Crimes and Misdemeanors; thanks Woody! I’ll enjoy these films over and over until the end regardless of the social media lynch mobs. Hopefully somebody publishes this memoir.
444
@Captain Belvedere There's nothing stopping him from self-publishing. He doesn't need an advance the way many authors do.
18
@Captain Belvedere
He can self-publish on the web.
Aren't all those films just remakes of one another?
/duck/
10
@Dave T.
Not in the least. They all have different subjects matters, different plots, different characters.
It's only during the nineties that he really started repeating himself. I love the movies he did between 1969 and 1993. After that, I gradually lost interest. I haven't seen anything he's done since 2010.
7
The publishing world is so courageous.
They could make a movie of this in 20 years. In some ways it's thematically foreshadowed in a 1976 Allen movie starring Zero Mostel titled "The Front."
50
@Jacob
Let the record show that "The Front" was directed by Martin Ritt. Still a Woody Allen movie in most ways, though.
5
@Jacob, re: "...a 1976 Allen movie starring Zero Mostel titled "The Front.""
"The Front" was directed by Martin Ritt and written by Walter Bernstein (both of whom were blacklisted, by the way). Woody Allen starred in it, and Zero Mostel (also blacklisted) had a supporting role. Allen did not play a part in the creative/production end of the film.
9
@ReadingLips Correct! Thank you fro the clarification. Although I'd argue Allen's character is so central to the film--and the way he embodies the sad sack shlubby guy who finally takes a stand is so well done--that I think he did play a big role in the creative process. Hard to imagine for example the role of Howard Prince (Allen) having been played by...I don't know...Al Pacino?
3
It's a shame that Allen's reputation has been caught in the public war over the MeToo movement, and what should have remained a very private war with his ex-partner, Ms. Farrow. While I believe wholeheartedly other accusers that have come forward in the past few years, the accusations against Allen simply don't add up, and there are many mitigating circumstances. I feel sorry for him; he's still a great artist with a lot of potential for further works of genius, if only given the chance.
309
@HKGuy If you simply read the Wikipedia article on Soon-Yi Previn with an open mind, you will have to concede that the issue is much more complicated than it is portrayed in the mainstream media. It's likely that all Woody Allen really did was romance and marry a woman much, much younger than himself.
18
@HKGuy - his war with Mia Farrow became public when HE sued HER.
2
@EJS
"It's likely that all Woody Allen really did was romance and marry a woman much, much younger than himself."
Who happened to be his long-time girlfriend's daughter. Funny coincidence?
8
Good call publishers. I wouldn't have bought his book. I don't even watch his movies now.
177
@Charmaine- who cares about another sheep following the vengeful mob? Guilt by accusation, is not justice.
22
@Charmaine from the article: “Investigators found no evidence of sexual abuse”
Of course you know better.
12
@Charmaine
I don't know if this personal decision by you really makes it a "good call" for the publishers. From a commercial point of you that was definitely not a good call, as Allen's memoir would undoubtedly sell well and be profitable for its publisher. They may be just holding out for a better deal trying to take advantage of his situation for their own benefit. In which case it is probably a good call.
1
We all want to know the truth. What about subjecting every participant to a lie detector test?
3
@PaulN
Woody Allen did take one and passed.
https://medium.com/@levine2001/the-woody-allen-controversy-reader-debunking-maureen-orths-undeniable-facts-about-the-woody-b734fe557943
7
@Steve
I also found https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/opinion/woody-allen.html right here in the NYT.
Is there a source that is considered fully reliable such as an official editorial statement by a respected newspaper or magazine?
Woody Allen was a major influence on my life as a Jew. I considered myself a "Woody Allen Jew." One who is not religious but very Jewish. He has destroyed his legacy, and like Micheal Jackson, can no longer be enjoyed. He is a pariah and should remain so.
227
@Judy Petersen
They are and remain allegations. No one should be tried u=in the court of public opinion especially on the internet, declared guilty and punished.
36
@Judy Petersen "He has destroyed his legacy"...well, only if you believe what I see as lies (or, at best, false memories) about him...I guess one can choose to believe an accusation without credible proof, but I would not recommend that as a way to go through life...
36