Javier Bardem defends Woody Allen, calls him a ‘genius’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Javier Bardem called Woody Allen “a genius” and said he would love to work with him again. (Getty)
“No Country for Old Men” star Javier Bardem defended Woody Allen, saying he does not “agree with the public lynching” of the "genius" director over sexual misconduct allegations.
Bardem, 49, made the comments Monday at the Lumière Film Festival, where he spoke fondly of Allen. Bardem starred in Allen’s 2008 film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and said he would work with him again, The Guardian reported.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“At the time I did ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona,’ the allegations were already well-known for more than 10 years, and two states in the U.S. deemed he was not guilty,” Bardem said.
“If the legal situation ever changes, then I’d change my mind,” he continued. “But for now I don’t agree with the public lynching that he’s been receiving, and if Woody Allen called me to work with him again, I’d be there tomorrow morning. He’s a genius.”
Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow claimed the director sexually abused her when she was 7 years old. The Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of Yale-New Haven Hospital launched an investigation into the allegations but concluded it in 1993 saying “no abuse had taken place,” The Guardian reported.
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Meanwhile, Allen told Page Six recently that he would never stop writing despite some actors coming forward, including Greta Gerwig and Colin Firth, to say they regretted working with him.
“I’m a writer. It’s what I am. What I do. What I always will be. I’ll write. Since I continually have ideas it’ll be new ideas and I’ll write new things,” Allen told Page Six.