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- Woody Allen called HBO’s new docu-series “Allen v. Farrow” a “hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.”
- The four-part documentary details sexual abuse allegations made against Allen.
- Allen accused the documentary makers of collaborating with the Farrow family.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn released a joint statement Sunday evening denouncing HBO’s new docu-series “Allen v. Farrow,” which examines long-standing sexual abuse allegations made against him by his former adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow.
The explosive four-part docuseries, which premiered Sunday on HBO, uses previously unseen archival footage as well as new in-depth interviews to track the fall-out after Farrow’s allegation that the writer-director molested her in 1992 aged seven.
Following the documentary’s premiere, Allen and Soon-Yi issued a statement first obtained by The Hollywood Reporter denying the allegations and accused directors Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick of collaborating with the Farrow family.
“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. 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,” part of the statement read.
HBO
“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.”
Woody Allen has consistently denied Dylan Farrow's allegations and maintained his belief that Mia Farrow, who he was married to for 12 years, coerced Dylan into making the allegation against him as an act of revenge after she discovered that Allen was having an affair with her adoptive daughter Soon-Yi Previn, whom he married in 1997.
Soon-Yi Previn was 21 when her relationship with Allen was made public.
During an interview with Insider published last week, "Allen v. Farrow" directors Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick said that they made numerous requests to speak with Woody Allen but the director never responded. So, in lieu of fresh interviews with the director, they decided to use audio excerpts from his controversial 2020 autobiography, "Apropos of Nothing," in which he addresses some of the topics depicted in the series.
"I was reading the book and thinking how can we get the book in and then I read online there was an audiobook and I felt that was perfect. I went to the editors and said, 'Let's start cutting with it,'" co-director Kirby Dick told Insider.
"I think it's really important because it allows you to hear Woody Allen's perspective on really everything on what we covered throughout the series. From very early on, meeting Mia, all the way through to events that were happening less than a year ago. It's over a three-decade period."