Woody Allen abuse allegation

[twinkles**stars]

New York (AFP) - The adopted daughter of Woody Allen has spoken for the first time about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the legendary Hollywood director during her childhood.

In an open letter published on a New York Times blog, Dylan Farrow, adopted by Allen during his relationship with actress Mia Farrow, detailed being abused by the director when she was seven years old.

"He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me," Farrow, 28, wrote in the letter.

"He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies."

It is the first time Dylan Farrow has spoken publicly about the unproven allegations of abuse which emerged more than two decades ago in the aftermath of Allen's acrimonious split with Mia Farrow in 1992.

Allen, who left Mia Farrow after starting a relationship with the actress's adopted daughter from a previous marriage, Soon-Yi Previn, has always vigorously denied abusing Dylan Farrow.

A New York judge in the 1994 custody battle between Allen and Farrow ruled that the abuse allegations were inconclusive, while at the same time lambasted the director as "self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive."

Allen's representatives could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday after Dylan Farrow's revelations. The New York Times reported that he had refused to comment.

His adopted daughter accused the Hollywood establishment of sweeping Allen's alleged crimes under the carpet by continuing to honor his films.

Dylan with her mother Mia Farrow in 1990, two years before the alleged incident. Photo: Getty

The director's latest movie, "Blue Jasmine", is nominated for three Academy Awards at next month's Oscars, including best original screenplay for the director.

Farrow called on three of the stars of "Blue Jasmine" -- Australian actress Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Louis C.K. to examine their relationship with Allen, asking pointedly: "What if it had been your child?"

"Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up," she wrote.

"That torment was made worse by Hollywood. All but a precious few (my heroes) turned a blind eye. Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, 'who can say what happened,' to pretend that nothing was wrong.

"Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines.

"Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse."

[the_great_she_elephant]

Anyone confident of their case would surely place it in the hands of solicitors instead of airing their claimed dirty-laundry in the public's face.

Of course she can't be confident of proving her case - she was a child at the time of the alleged assault and it is simply her word against his - that doesn' tnecessarily make her a liar. If she is telling the truth (and none of us in a position to either believe or disbelieve her) then she is doing it out of anger and frustration that someone who treated her so disgusitngly isn not only getting away with it but being feted as a celebrity. 

Very tacky.  And to me, reeks of rage, no matter how the attempt's been made to claim this ugly squabble -- at this particular point in time --- is 'to help others'. 

If she is telling the truth, then of course it's rage. How would you feel if you had been abused by your father, disbelieved and virtually called a liar and then had to watch your abuser being fawned over by an adoring public that either doesn't believe or doesn't care that he is the monster you know him to be.  

[azureline**]

People do all sorts of things, no two circumstances are ever the same. I suspect he is guilty but since the time has lapsed on a prosecution, perhaps she saw no point in pursuing it.......or maybe she had already had legal advice that said she couldn't prove her case.

[amber-eyed-girl]

Polocross58, this is part of my first post (the first reply here):

celebrities are not untouchable (as the abuse cases in Britain now show), and they should not be.

But everyone has a right to be innocent until proven guilty, otherwise statements can destroy those who are innocent.

this does need an official investigation.


I believe that is a possibility legally, from what has been posted here.

It will be interesting if anything is made official.

[the_great_she_elephant]

Polocross wrote: As I do not accept that  'helping others'  is the true motive for the allegations, I must look for other motivation.  And as WA is a very wealthy individual, I'm led to suspect that WA has refused to buckle to threat or blackmail which has further enraged the accusers

                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/salvation-army-in-disbelief-over-abuse-com...

THE Salvation Army reacted with disbelief and suspected people were money-grabbing when they began receiving complaints about abuse in their homes for children.

......... In 1999, Mrs Randall took part-time work in the organisation's social service section and then went on to work in the council which dealt with complaints of historical abuse.

"I think that there was this feeling that was expressed more by a sigh or a look or maybe even a side word that these complaints couldn't have been real, they were just attempts at money-grabbing," she said.

[i-need-a-martini]

Mia Farrow did take the accusation to the police after they split up when Allen sought custody of the children. It was investigated at the time and wasn't it found that Mia had coached the child in what to say?

She also had the child medically examined and there was nothing that indicated child abuse.

There was also a psychological examination which found the child was extremely distressed about the home environment.

Let's not forget that the divorce was extremely bitter.

[cherry*135]

It was investigated at the time and wasn't it found that Mia had coached the child in what to say?

That is what Woody Allen accused her of doing. 

Even so, as the divorce was extemely bitter, would Ryan Farrow, bring this up again nearly 20years later if it never happened?

[amber-eyed-girl]

She is now a grown woman with her own life. Almost thirty and independent.

I would hope that any "coaching" was well over.

The prosecutor of the time has stated his reasons for not proceeding when she was a child. Thinking she had been coached was not one of them.

[cherry*135]

This whole article is quite interesting, gives more details.

The Woody Allen Allegations: Not So Fast

On April 20, 1993, a sworn statement was entered into evidence by Dr. John M. Leventhal, who headed the Yale-New Haven Hospital investigative team looking into the abuse charges. 

An article from the New York Times dated May 4, 1993, includes some interesting excerpts of their findings.

As to why the team felt the charges didn’t hold water, Leventhal states: “We had two hypotheses: one, that these were statements made by an emotionally disturbed child and then became fixed in her mind. And the other hypothesis was that she was coached or influenced by her mother. We did not come to a firm conclusion. We think that it was probably a combination.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/27/the-woody-allen-allegations-not-so-fast.html

[i-need-a-martini]

---

@am*3 wrote:

It was investigated at the time and wasn't it found that Mia had coached the child in what to say?

That is what Woody Allen accused her of doing. 

Even so, as the divorce was extemely bitter, would Ryan Farrow, bring this up again nearly 20years later if it never happened?

---

No. It was what the experts said at the time. The transcripts of the courtcase and the interviews with the police were published at the time of the custody hearings.

Who knows why it was brought up again.But the story does appear every few years. I have an issue of Vanity Fair from last year where Mia and her children were interviewed about it all.

But certainly there is still much bitterness between all parties. And if you read how the children behaved towards him during supervised visits after the divorce, you have to wonder how much influence Farrow has/had over them. 

I don't know what is true or not but when a divorce gets as ugly as this did (and still is) then you can't help but wonder at how warped everyones perspective is.

[cherry*135]

This was form an expert ( from my post above)

Leventhal - The doctor who headed the Connecticut investigation 

As to why the team felt the charges didn’t hold water, Leventhal states: “We had two hypotheses: one, that these were statements made by an emotionally disturbed child and then became fixed in her mind. And the other hypothesis was that she was coached or influenced by her mother. We did not come to a firm conclusion. We think that it was probably a combination.”

From this link, same Dr:

1993

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/04/nyregion/doctor-cites-inconsistencies-in-dylan-farrow-s-statements...

The doctor who headed the Connecticut investigation into whether Woody Allen molested his 7-year-old daughter, Dylan, theorized that the child either invented the story under the stress of living in a volatile and unhealthy home or that it was planted in her mind by her mother, Mia Farrow, a sworn statement released yesterday says

The doctor acknowledged that "We don't have firm evidence that Miss Farrow coached or directed Dylan to say this."