Dylan Farrow really isn’t here for Scarlett Johansson’s defence of Woody Allen
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- Kayleigh Dray
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“Scarlett has a long way to go in understanding the issues she claims to champion,” tweeted Farrow.
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Dylan Farrow penned a powerful piece about Hollywood’s double standards on sexual assault – and criticised the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet and Blake Lively for supporting the #MeToo movement while refusing to condemn her adoptive father (and alleged abuser), Woody Allen.
Now, she has focused her attention on Scarlett Johansson, who recently made headlines when she told the press that she 100% believes Allen’s claims of innocence.
“I love Woody,” Johansson told The Hollywood Reporter. “I believe him and I would work with him anytime.”
Johansson – who worked with Allen on Match Point, Scoop and Vicky Cristina Barcelona – added that she sees Allen whenever she can and has “had a lot of conversations with him about it”.
“I have been very direct with him, and he’s been very direct with me,” she continued. “He maintains his innocence, and I believe him.”
Farrow took to Twitter shortly after Johansson’s interview to respond to the actor directly.
“Because if we’ve learned anything from the past two years it’s that you definitely should believe male predators who ‘maintain their innocence’ without question,” Farrow tweeted.
“Scarlett has a long way to go in understanding the issue she claims to champion.”
Farrow added: “My apologies in advance for disrupting her Google Alerts again.”
Allen has long been accused of sexual abuse by Farrow, who he legally adopted in 1991 (he had been in a relationship with her adoptive mother, Mia Farrow, since 1980).
In 2014, Farrow wrote an open letter for The New York Times detailing the abuse she allegedly suffered at Allen’s hands. She had previously accused him of assaulting her in 1993, when she was eight years old, and said that the abuse occurred when she was seven.
“What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?” she began her open letter. “Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me.”
Farrow went on to criticise the message that Hollywood is sending victims of abuse by supporting Allen, specifically naming several of Allen’s defenders by name.
“What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis CK? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?
“Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse.”
In 2018, Farrow filmed her first TV interview, in which she discussed her claim that her adoptive father sexually assaulted her as a child.
“Why shouldn’t I be angry?” she said. “Why shouldn’t I be hurt? Why shouldn’t I feel some sort of outrage after all these years being ignored and disbelieved and tossed aside?”
And, when asked why people should believe her, Farrow responded: “I suppose that’s on them, but all I can do is speak my truth and hope that somebody will believe me, instead of just hearing.”
Allen has always vehemently denied Farrow’s claims that he assaulted her in 1992. The director was investigated over the accusation and a state prosecutor said he had “probable cause” to prosecute in 1993 but did not file charges, due to the fragility of the “child victim”.
Image: Getty