Let it be said: The story of Woody Allen's family drama

On February 1, the main sore question in Hollywood stood up before the world: is Woody Allen a pedophile or not? The foster daughter of Allen and Mia Farrow published an open letter to The New York Times stating that, yes, a pedophile, and here's why. Meanwhile, the issue has been very carefully approached in the world press and has not been in a hurry with statements since 1992. There were, however, some exceptions in the form of journalists investigating the issue in detail. Editorial Wonderzine collected 5 materials that you need to read about this story to make up your mind. We will tell about the journalists who investigated the incident as a separate line - their biography is no less fascinating and will allow us to draw a conclusion about the authenticity of their articles.

Mia's story

November 1992 Vanity fair

The key story about Woody Allen and his life with Mia Farrow and their eleven children, which is usually referred to even twenty years later. Maurin Orth was involved in journalistic investigations, which, apart from interviews with the presidents (Vladimir Putin, Carlos Menem, Mary Robinson) and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, drove around Michael Jackson about five times - the topic of pedophilia among American stars made her partly famous. One of her stories was edited by the editors of Vanity Fair from the site, since the source on which Orth based her story completely disowned her words. In a huge ficher about Woody Allen, the narration is conducted like a detective horror and begins with a story about the unspoken rule in the Allen family - never leave Woody alone with their 7-year-old foster daughter Dylan. The last Allen did not give the passage, which confused Mia Farrow a lot, but her fear coexisted with infinite love for the director, so for a long time she drove suspicion and fear away from herself. When Dylan told a family psychologist that she had been raped by her adoptive father, Mia Farrow took her to a doctor for an examination. The latter concluded that the girl was not touched, but still told the police about the story. From that moment began an endless series of suspicions of Woody Allen in pedophilia. The article tells how the life of Farrow and Allen changed together, how the director otbryvatsya from accusations, surrounded by lawyers and the support of the press and, finally, how he fell in love with Sun-Yi Preven, adopted by Mia Farrow married to Andre Preven, but which Woody was essentially the second adoptive father. What a lot of dumbfounded not only Farrow, but everyone in general. 71-year-old Maureen Orth returned to life Mia Farrow and in November last year, recalling that no one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten.

Shortly before the publication of a cover story in Newsweek and Time, to stop this nightmare, Mia told friends that Woody agreed to close the custody case and sign the original agreement if Mia withdraws the rape charges and the family solves the problem privately. “I think Woody’s main message was:“ You poisoned the atmosphere so much that Dylan started inventing, ”says Lynn Nesbit. In this connection, an eyewitness who testified under oath tells Mia to go to Dylan to see if the latter is ready give up statements. Mia said: "Listen, Dylan, we all invent stories. Everybody does it. Sometimes we know that we invented them. "But the girl did not give up." If he says he did not do this, then he lies, "Dylan replied.

Farrow Testifies That Daughter Accused Allen of Molestation

March 1993 The new york times

The New York Times, who published an open letter to Dylan about rape, looked after the director’s biography for a long time. According to their articles, it is easy to trace the development of events in the chain of relations between Farrow and Allen. For example, in the 91st newspaper, an eminent ficher "Woody and Mia: New York Story" published, a sweet story about the life of two with a punchline "we are so different, but we are together." After the onset of litigation between Farrow and Allen, The New York Times consistently reported on each incident: the doctor who conducted the examination of the girl said that the girl was either strongly depressed emotionally, or her mother was in charge of her words; Now the judge says that he found evidence of the absence of signs of rape "inconclusive", and gives the children custody of Farrow; here the disciplinary commission accuses the prosecutor of influencing the decision of the judge. The newspaper has never spoken openly about which side it is supporting, but happily picked up any incident that indicates that Allen is still to blame.

Mr. Allen, slouched in an armchair and arms folded tightly over his chest, stared, without any expression, at how Mrs. Farrow publicly spoke at the trial in the Supreme Court of Manhattan, where Mr. Allen fights for custody of their three children. Mr. Allen, 57, vehemently denied sexual harassment allegations. The Prosecutor of the Litchfield District Court in Connecticut did not press for new charges in the case, but continues to investigate.

'I've been a model father,' says Woody Allen

August 1992 NEWSWEEK

The US Caravan of Stories almost immediately published an interview with Allen under the heading “I was an exemplary father,” where he answered every question from a journalist about allegations of rape with a denial and outrage. Now on the Internet, the story is preserved only on the site The Baltimore Sun, which reprinted it. For the most part, the interview raises the question of the relationship between Allen and Sun-Y Preven, how it all began, how he sees their future, and is it true that Sun-Yi is a stupid person and cannot connect two words in English. This article looks more like friendly questions from a journalist who clearly believes Allen is innocent, but reveals the director from an unexpected angle: for example, he did not consider all of Woody’s children as equally close, and did not consider some of them as children.

- It is assumed that in your novel with Sun-Yi, you took advantage of it, as someone with learning disabilities and very low IQ. “I can tell you something.” If you think that I can enjoy life with a stupid person ... I did with Soon-And the usual things I could do with any person: showed Bergman's films, went to matches, talked. Sun-Yi is good at college, she goes to literary courses, courses in psychology and sociology, and everything is fine with her. I will never be retarded with anyone. She is a great companion and more than makes me happy.

The Woody Allen Allegations: Not So Fast

January 2014 thedailybeast

Robert B. Weide, who recently shot a documentary about Woody Allen (and another comedy with a new name, How to lose friends and make everyone hate you), spoke in support of the director. He gives a huge full-fledged chronological reference about how it all began and how it ended, at the same time refuting all the accusations in the direction of Allen. In fact, Weide indirectly accuses Farrow of a considerable exaggeration, although he admits that she follows her on Twitter and considers her an outstanding actress. Weide openly says that he can be considered an interested party, but he calls to note differences in the stories.

I know that I am stepping on a slippery slope and letting myself pounce on myself with accusations.

"you think the victim is to blame for everything." However, I just suggest that you consider several scenarios, and you may think what you want. But if Mia’s version is correct, it means that in the midst of custody and negotiations, during which Woody should behave as best as possible, in the house that belonged to his enraged ex-girlfriend and filled with people who are incredibly angry with him, claustrophobic, decided that it was impossible to choose the best time and place to have a daughter in the attic and rape, quickly, until a house full of children and nannies noticed their absence

The Heart Wants What It Wants

August 1992 Time

Time journalist Walter Isaacson, the author of biographies of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and others, hot on the heels of an interview with Woody Allen. It is more like a police interrogation, because Isaacson does not allow Allen to catch his breath and shoots questions one by one. Allen does not lag behind and counteracts with arguments: it turns out that Mia Farrow mistreated Sun-I and beat her hairbrush, Sun-I did not immediately reciprocate the director, although he almost immediately fell in love with her, yes, he really took photos of her bare stepdaughter and no, Woody Allen never raped Dylan Farrow. Now the interview is available only to subscribers of the magazine, but it must be read whenever possible - this is the first interview where Allen is not asked as a director, but as an ordinary person, and pressed against the wall under the pressure of fifty questions in a row without any reverence.

- Do you use your films to solve life dilemmas?

- No, people always confuse my films with my life.

- Don't you confuse your films with your life?

- Not. Films are fiction. The plots of my films have nothing to do with my life. My next film is about a mysterious murder.

- And who is being killed?

- Yes, one stranger.

- Inappropriate love with a young girl seems to be the theme of your films and your life, isn't it?

- This is not a topic of my life. I was married twice, and both times on women of almost my own age. The relationship I was in - with Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow - not that they are very young girls.