Rather than being linked to those accused of sexual misconduct, Woody Allen believes he should stand as a positive example for the #MeToo movement.
In an interview with the Argentinian news program “Periodismo Para Todos,” which released Sunday, the director again denied allegations he sexually assaulted his daughter, Dylan Farrow, when she was seven years old.
“This is something that has been thoroughly looked at 25 years ago by all the authorities and everybody came to the conclusion that it was untrue,” Allen said. “And that was the end and I’ve gone on with my life. For it to come back now, it’s a terrible thing to accuse a person of. I’m a man with a family and my own children. So, of course it’s upsetting.”
Farrow talked about the sexual assault in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2013 and in an open letter published in the New York Times in 2014.
In January, she detailed allegations of the assault for the first time on TV in an interview that aired on “CBS This Morning.”
Allen has consistently denied the allegation and was not charged with any crime.
A team of experts concluded that Dylan was not abused, according to The New York Times, which covered the proceedings after Allen filed for custody of his three children with Mia Farrow in 1992. The judge in the case, however, said he found the evidence inconclusive, according toThe Times.
In his “Periodismo” interview, Allen said of the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct: “You root for them, you want them to bring to justice these terrible harassers, these people that do all these terrible things. And I think that’s a good thing.”
“What bothers me is that I get linked in with them,” Allen said. “People who have been accused by 20 women, 50 women, 100 women of abuse and abuse and abuse. And I, who was only accused by one woman in a child custody case, which was looked at and proven to be untrue, I get lumped in with these people.”
Reporting on the allegations of sexual misconduct against producer Harvey Weinstein by Allen’s estranged son, Ronan Farrow fueled momentum in the #MeToo movement and #TimesUp campaign.
Farrow has defended his sister and said he believes her allegations against Allen in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. Moses Farrow, who was in 14 years old when Allen and Farrow divorced, strongly questioned his sisters allegations.
The acclaimed director said he’s an advocate of the #MeToo movement and pointed to the fact that he has not faced accusations from any of the actresses he’s worked with over the decades.
“I feel when they find people who harass innocent women and men, it’s a good thing that they’re exposing them,” Allen said. “But you know I, I should be the poster boy for the #MeToo movement because I have worked in movies for 50 years. I’ve worked with hundreds of actresses and not a single one — big ones, famous ones, ones starting out –have ever, ever suggested any kind of impropriety at all. I’ve always had a wonderful record with them.”
