Woody Allen doesn’t believe Dylan Farrow is “lying” in her claims he abused her as a child.
The ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ director has repeatedly denied allegations made by his adopted daughter that he molested her when she was seven years old, and in a newly-broadcast interview, the 85-year-old filmmaker repeated his previous assertions that Dylan was coached in what to say by her mother, his former partner Mia Farrow.
Speaking in the interview, which aired for the first time on ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ this weekend, he said: “I believe she thinks it. She was a good kid. I do not believe that she’s making it up. I don’t believe she’s lying. I believe she believes that.”
Dylan’s accusations were first made when Woody split from Mia in 1992, and the filmmaker wasn’t charged, despite prosecutors admitting there was probably cause for a criminal case.
However, Woody insisted the idea he would have molested his daughter was “preposterous” and didn’t think the allegations would even be investigated.
He said: “Why would a guy who’s 57 years old? I never was accused of anything in my life, I’m suddenly going to drive up in the middle of a contentious custody fight at Mia’s country home (with) a seven-year-old girl. It just – on the surface, I didn’t think it required any investigation, even.
“It’s so preposterous, and yet the smear has remained. And they still prefer to cling to if not the notion that I molested Dylan, the possibility that I molested her. Nothing that I ever did with Dylan in my life could be misconstrued as that.”
Dylan recently recalled the “intense” and “gruelling” experience of being nine times over a three-month period as a child over her allegations, and admitted she was left feeling like she “was lying” after repeatedly having to defend herself.
Speaking in the HBO docuseries ‘Allen v Farrow’ – which Woody has branded a “hatchet job riddled with falsehoods” – she said: “If I change a word here, they say I’m being inconsistent, if I’m using the same exact words I used every other time, I was coached.”
CBS News explained they have decided to release the interview with Woody now as a result of “renewed interest in the controversy surrounding the filmmaker” following the four-part HBO docuseries.
They added in a statement: “Lee Cowan sat down with Woody Allen in July 2020 following the release of his memoir for what would be Allen’s first significant television interview in nearly three decades. The interview, which occurred last summer during an active news cycle, is being presented now given the renewed interest in the controversy surrounding the filmmaker.
“The exclusive for Paramount Plus offers the ability to explore Allen, his career, and the allegations in context and with the depth that this story demands.”
