Woody Allen denies Dylan Farrow's sexual assault allegation
February 2, 2014 -- Updated 2320 GMT (0720 HKT)
Woody Allen accused of sexual assault
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Woody Allen's representative calls letter "untrue and disgraceful"
- Open letter by Dylan Farrow is published by The New York Times online
- She says Woody Allen sexually assaulted her in 1992, when she was 7
- Former prosecutor: "I hope she finds some peace and solace"
In an open letter posted online Saturday by The New York Times,
Farrow recounted her allegation that Allen sexually assaulted her in
the attic of her adopted mother Mia Farrow's house in 1992.
The statement released by
Allen representative Leslee Dart said: "Mr. Allen has read the article
and found it untrue and disgraceful. He will be responding very soon. In
the meantime, it is essential that your coverage make the following
facts clear:
"At the time, a thorough
investigation was conducted by court appointed independent experts. The
experts concluded there was no credible evidence of molestation; that
Dylan Farrow had an inability to distinguish between fantasy and
reality; and that Dylan Farrow had likely been coached by her mother Mia
Farrow. No charges were ever filed."
Dylan Farrow's open
letter appeared on Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's blog. It was
billed as the first time she's publicly written about the accusation.
"What's your favorite
Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven
years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim,
closet-like attic on the second floor of our house.
"He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me."
The letter was released
the same day as the Writers Guild Awards, for which Allen had been
nominated for best screenplay for "Blue Jasmine" but did not win. The
movie also garnered three Academy Award nominations.
In 1992, in the wake of
an affair between Allen and Soon-Yi Previn -- Mia Farrow's adopted
daughter with composer Andre Previn -- Farrow accused the filmmaker of
molesting Dylan. About a week later, Allen filed for custody of his
three children with Farrow -- Moses and Dylan, who were adopted, and
Satchel, their biological son, who now goes by Ronan Farrow.
"A team of investigators
from Yale-New Haven Hospital that was retained by the Connecticut State
Police subsequently concluded Dylan had not been abused," according to
an account in the Times, which covered the custody proceedings.
Acting Justice Elliott
Wilk of New York's State Supreme Court "said it was unlikely that Mr.
Allen could be prosecuted for sexual abuse based on the evidence," the
newspaper reported. "But while a team of experts concluded that Dylan
was not abused, the judge said he found the evidence inconclusive."
A former prosecutor who
decided against pressing charges in the case declined to comment on the
details in Dylan Farrow's letter Sunday.
"As a prosecutor I
really can't comment on the substance of the statement of this now young
woman. As a father of a child not too much older than this young woman,
I can only say I hope she finds some peace and solace in the way she's
expressing herself," former Connecticut State's Attorney Frank Maco
said. "I hope she had access to my written statement of decision. My
statement is as valid today as it was 20 years ago."
In 1993, Maco -- who's
since retired -- told reporters he believed there was probable cause to
arrest Allen. But he said he decided not to press charges, with Mia
Farrow's support, "rather than exposing the child to possible harm."
At the time, Allen
lashed out at authorities who handled the case and accused prosecutors
of scheming to keep it open to influence his custody battle.
Allegations raised again in recent months
Even as the decades passed,
the scandal permanently damaged Allen's image -- that of a neurotic but
amusing schlub with a talent for slapstick and witty one-liners. He
denied the accusations from Dylan and said his relationship with Farrow,
which had been painted storybook colors by the press, was not actually
all that strong.
He did marry Soon-Yi
Previn in 1997, and after the marriage came a slightly more public Woody
Allen. The couple were the focus of a 1997 Barbara Kopple documentary,
"Wild Man Blues," which portrayed a generally happy pair. Allen was also
the subject of a 2011 Robert Weide film, "Woody Allen: A Documentary,"
which briskly addressed Farrow's allegations from Allen's point of view.
However, the scandal has
always been near the surface, and the open letter in The New York Times
is one of a number of instances in recent months where the allegation
has been raised.
In a November Vanity Fair article, Allen was condemned by Mia Farrow's children, especially Dylan.
After that article's
publication, a representative for Allen told CNN, "The article is so
fictitious and extravagantly absurd that he is not going to comment."
Last month, as Allen was
honored with a lifetime achievement award during the Golden Globes,
Ronan Farrow, now estranged from his father, took to Twitter and referenced the allegation:
"Missed the Woody Allen tribute -- did they put the part where a woman
publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?"
And now comes the open
letter, where Dylan Farrow recounts not only the alleged abuse, but what
she says happened to her in the aftermath.
"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. "I was stricken with guilt that I had
allowed him to be near other little girls. I was terrified of being
touched by men. I developed an eating disorder. I began cutting myself."
Celebrities accused of 'turning a blind eye'
She also admonished some
of Hollywood's most celebrated, mostly women, by name for "turning a
blind eye" and for continuing to work with Allen.
CNN reached out to the stars that Dylan Farrow challenged by name in her letter but has not yet received responses.
In a series of Twitter posts Sunday, actor Alec Baldwin -- who starred in "Blue Jasmine" -- fired back at people asking him to respond to the allegations.
"You are mistaken if you think there is a place for me, or any outsider, in this family's issue," he wrote.
In another post, he
slammed someone who asked whether he owed Dylan Farrow an apology: "What
the f&@% is wrong w u that u think we all need to b commenting on
this family's personal struggle?"
No matter how
celebrities respond, the letter is likely to fuel significant media
coverage, said Dan Abrams, ABC News' chief legal affairs anchor.
"This letter is so
detailed and so powerful that I think that wherever Woody Allen goes for
the next period of months, he's going to be asked about this, he's
going to be questioned about it, he's going to be challenged about it,"
Abrams told CNN's "Reliable Sources"
on Sunday. "But I think that as a news story, it's not going to
fundamentally change, because we've known this was her position. It's
the power of the details that she's presenting that I think change
this."
CNN's Carolyn Sung, Todd Leopold, Sarah
Edwards, Michelle Hall, Nischelle Turner and Catherine E. Shoichet
contributed to this report.
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