Woody Allen, Soon-Yi Previn slam HBO doc where Dylan Farrow details alleged abuse as ‘hatchet job’
The HBO documentary series 'Allen v. Farrow' takes an in-depth look at the scandal
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn spoke out following the premiere of the HBO documentary series "Allen v. Farrow" about his adoptive daughter's allegations of molestation.
Dylan Farrow, 35, her mother Mia Farrow, 76, and her brother Ronan Farrow, 33, participate in the documentary series, which explores allegations that were first brought against the Oscar winner, 85, during his 1992 split from Mia. Allen has denied the allegations for almost 30 years and Mia declined to press charges at the time.
Following the premiere episode of the four-part series, Allen and Soon-Yi released a statement to Fox News further denying the allegations against him and questioning the legitimacy of the HBO project.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"These documentarians had no interest in the truth. Instead, they spent years surreptitiously collaborating with the Farrows and their enablers to put together a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods," the statement reads. "Woody and Soon-Yi were approached less than two months ago and given only a matter of days to respond.’ Of course, they declined to do so."
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The statement continues: "As has been known for decades, these allegations are categorically false. Multiple agencies investigated them at the time and found that, whatever Dylan Farrow may have been led to believe, absolutely no abuse had ever taken place. It is sadly unsurprising that the network to air this is HBO – which has a standing production deal and business relationship with Ronan Farrow. While this shoddy hit piece may gain attention, it does not change the facts."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dylan Farrow claimed her adoptive father molested her when she was 7 years old. (AP)
In the first episode, Dylan does not go into detail about the abuse she alleges she suffered under her adoptive father when she was a child. However, she does reiterate claims she previously made in a 2014 open letter published by The New York Times. According to Yahoo Entertainment, she claims Allen would relentlessly pursue her when he was at their apartment, allegedly coaxing her into inappropriate situations.
"I have memories of getting into bed with him. He was in his underwear, and I'm in my underwear, cuddling," she says. "I remember his breath on me. He would just wrap his body around me, very intimately."
While she had previously mentioned that Allen allegedly stuck his thumb in her mouth, she gave further details in "Allen v. Farrow."
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"I remember sitting on the steps with him in the country house. There was nobody else around, and he was directing me on how to suck his thumb," she said. "Telling me what to do with my tongue. And I think that lasted a while. It felt like a long time."
Mia Farrow detailed Woody Allen's alleged change in behavior when it came to their adoptive daughter Dylan. (Reuters)
Mia and Allen began a relationship in 1980 that lasted more than a decade. At the time, she was already the mother of seven kids. In the series, Mia explains that Allen wanted no part of being a father, which is one of the reasons they maintained separate residences throughout their relationship. However, she says she approached him about adopting a child together, to which he was still reluctant.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He said if I wanted to do that that it wouldn't ruin the relationship but that he wanted nothing to do with it," she says in the docuseries (via People). "I thought, 'That's fair.' He knew the kind of children that I adopted that were all from different countries with different needs. He said, 'I might be more kindly predisposed if it was a little blonde girl.' I thought if he cares about that I should try to find a little girl like that and maybe he'll love her. I eventually ended up with a little blonde girl and that was baby Dylan."
After adopting Dylan, Mia and Allen conceived Ronan. Shortly after that is when Dylan says the abuse began. Mia alleges that she too noticed a change in Allen’s approach to the children at that time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In time, what it became [that] was there was nobody but the two of them," Mia says in the doc. "He didn't want to see the other kids, he wanted to see her. She started running away from him. She started locking herself in bathrooms."
Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn spoke out following the premiere of 'Allen v. Farrow.' (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Elsewhere in the premiere episode, Mia blames herself for not seeing the signs and allowing Allen into her home.
"That's the great regret of my life, that I wasn't perceptive enough. It's my fault," she says. "I brought this guy into my family. There's nothing I can do to take that away."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I get why people can't believe it because who on Earth could believe that of Woody Allen?" Mia adds. "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. Everybody admired Woody so much, loved him, and I did too."
Following the premiere of the first episode, Ronan supported his sister by sharing a photo of the two of them together on Instagram with the caption, "Proud of my sister."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to People, the episode ends covering the 1991 adoption of Dylan and Moses by Allen. A month later, Mia says she discovered "pornographic" polaroids of her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi, in Allen’s apartment.
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Allen would eventually go on to marry Soon-Yi, noting in his 2020 book "Apropos of Nothing" that he understands why the relationship angered his ex but claims he has no regrets about his relationship to the woman who is 35 years his junior.