Woody Allen on Son’s Brutal Op-Ed: ‘I Never Read Anything About Me’
Woody Allen said he had not read a recent op-ed penned by his estranged son, Ronan Farrow, which criticized the director and the media for not covering his alleged sexual abuse as much as his new films, Variety reports.
“I never read anything about me, these interviews I do, anything,” Allen said to reporters at the Cannes Film Festival. “I said everything I had to say about that whole issue in The New York Times. I have moved so far past it. I never think about it. I work. I said I was never going to comment on it again. I said everything I have to say about it.”
Farrow published his piece in The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday, a week after the magazine printed a glowing cover story about Allen and his new film, Café Society. The story, however, barely touched on the allegations that Allen sexually assaulted Farrow’s sister, Dylan, while in a relationship with their mother, Mia. The accusations were first leveled at Allen in 1993, but the director was never prosecuted and has maintained his innocence; in 2014, they resurfaced with Dylan detailing her story in an open letter in The Times.
At Cannes, Allen went on to insist that he would not read Farrow’s op-ed, speaking of it as a self-absorbed distraction similar to reading reviews or box office reports: “Forget about all that. Just work. It’s worked for me. I’ve been very productive over the years by not thinking about myself. I don’t like to hear that a critic thinks my film is a masterpiece and I don’t like to hear that a critic thinks my film misses.” While a Variety reporter noted Farrow was not a critic, but Allen’s son, the director responded, “I’ve said all I have to say about it.”
Allen was also asked about a brutal joke French actor Laurent Lafitte made while serving as MC of Cannes’ opening night, when Café Society premiered. “It’s very nice that you’ve been shooting so many movies in Europe, even if you are not being convicted for rape in the U.S.,” Lafitte cracked, also alluding to Roman Polanski.
Allen, however, was unfazed by the joke. “I am completely in favor of comedians making any jokes they want,” he said. “I am a non-judgmental or [non]-censorship person on jokes. I’m a comic myself and I feel they should be free to make whatever jokes they want.” He added: “It would take a lot to offend me,” before explaining that the worst part about the Cannes opening ceremony was that it went on too long.