FILE: Woody Allen's adopted daughter repeats sexual abuse claim in letter on the New York Times website

Record ID: 334690

  • Title: FILE: Woody Allen's adopted daughter repeats sexual abuse claim in letter on the New York Times website
  • Date: 2nd February 2014
  • Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (FILE) (REUTERS) DIRECTOR WOODY ALLEN WITH ACTRESS RACHEL MCADAMS PRESS DIRECTOR WOODY ALLEN WITH ACTOR OWEN WILSON
  • Embargoed: 17th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ecuador, France
  • City:
  • Country: Ecuador France
  • Topics: Arts
  • Reuters ID: LVA74K5KUXP5J1ETXQPNTMOYSZ4H
  • Story Text: Woody Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, on Saturday (February 1) revisited her sexual abuse claim against the filmmaker in a letter on the website of the New York Times, as she questioned his acclaim in Hollywood.
    The revival of the accusation against Allen comes just ahead of this year's Oscar Awards, where the 78-year-old filmmaker is nominated for best original screenplay for his drama "Blue Jasmine" starring Cate Blanchett.
    Allen was never arrested or prosecuted in the decades-old case, after an investigation by state police in Connecticut, where Mia Farrow and her children lived.
    Mia Farrow, the longtime girlfriend of Allen, and the "Annie Hall" filmmaker split in 1992 amid revelations that Allen had an affair with Mia Farrow's then 22-year-old adopted daughter, Soon-Yi.
    At the time of their break up, Mia Farrow accused Allen of abusing Dylan, who had been adopted by Allen. The letter from Dylan Farrow on the blog of New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof marks the first time she has written publicly about the allegations. (Letter: http://r.reuters.com/ryn56v)
    In the piece, the now 28-year-old Dylan Farrow wrote that Allen one day led her to an attic at their house when she was 7 years old.
    "He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me," Dylan Farrow wrote.
    Kristof had previously written a column about the case and wrote on his blog that Allen "deserves the presumption of innocence" but that it was "time for the world to hear Dylan's story in her own words."
    Representatives for Allen did not return calls or emails seeking comment on Saturday.
    Dylan Farrow, in her piece, questioned the participation of major actors in Allen's films and his nomination for an Oscar.
    "For so long, Woody Allen's acceptance silenced me," she wrote. "It felt like a personal rebuke, like the awards and accolades were a way to tell me to shut up and go away."
    Dylan Farrow last year repeated her accusation of sexual abuse against Allen in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.
    Last month, Mia Farrow's son Ronan Farrow, the brother of Dylan and the estranged son of Woody Allen, posted on Twitter a critical comment of Allen and the Golden Globes, which had honored the filmmaker with a lifetime achievement award.
    Allen won Oscars for best director and best screenplay for his 1977 classic romantic comedy film "Annie Hall," and again took Oscars for his screenplays for the comedies "Hannah and Her Sisters" from 1986 and "Midnight in Paris" from 2011.
    He married Soon-Yi Previn in 1997.
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