Woody Allen Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! PreviewAdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text=== Sexual abuse allegation === {{Main|Woody Allen sexual abuse allegation}} According to court testimony, on August 4, 1992, Allen visited the children at Mia Farrow's home in [[Bridgewater, Connecticut|Bridgewater]], Connecticut, while she was shopping with a friend.<ref name=OrthNov1992/> The next day, that friend's babysitter told her employer that she had seen that "Dylan was sitting on the sofa, and Woody was kneeling on the floor, facing her, with his head in her lap".<ref name="MarksApril101993">{{cite news|last1=Marks|first1=Peter|date=April 10, 1993|title=Sitter Questions Allen Actions With Daughter|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/10/nyregion/sitter-questions-allen-actions-with-daughter.html}}</ref>{{sfn|Groteke|1994|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}|ps= After Alison Stickland left Frog Hollow on the afternoon of August 4, she told Casey in passing, "I had seen something at Mia's that was bothering me." What she claimed to have seen was this: In the television room that afternoon, Dylan was sitting on the sofa, and Woody was kneeling on the floor, facing her, with his head in her lap. Casey phoned Mia the next day, August 5, and, in passing, related Alison's remark.}} When Farrow asked Dylan about it, Dylan allegedly said that Allen had touched Dylan's "private part" while they were alone together in the attic.<ref name="OrthNov1992" /> Allen strongly denied the allegation, calling it "an unconscionable and gruesomely damaging manipulation of innocent children for vindictive and self-serving motives".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Barron|first1=James|date=August 19, 1992|title=Striking Back, Woody Allen Denies Child Sex-Abuse Allegation|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/19/nyregion/striking-back-woody-allen-denies-child-sex-abuse-allegation.html}}</ref> He then began proceedings in [[New York Supreme Court]] for sole custody of his and Farrow's son Satchel, as well as Dylan and Moses, their two adopted children.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Weber|first1=Bruce|date=August 14, 1992|title=Woody Allen Files Child-Custody Lawsuit|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/14/nyregion/woody-allen-files-child-custody-lawsuit.html}}</ref> In March 1993, a six-month investigation by the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of [[Yale-New Haven Hospital]] concluded that Dylan had not been sexually abused.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Perez-Pena|first1=Richard|date=March 19, 1993|title=Woody Allen Says Report Clears Him|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/19/nyregion/woody-allen-says-report-clears-him.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Marks|first1=Peter|date=April 28, 1993|title=Yale Study About Allen Flawed, Expert Testifies|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/28/nyregion/yale-study-about-allen-flawed-expert-testifies.html}}</ref> In June 1993, Judge Elliott Wilk rejected Allen's bid for custody and rejected the allegation of sexual abuse. Wilk said he was less certain than the Yale-New Haven team that there was conclusive evidence that there was no sexual abuse and called Allen's conduct with Dylan "grossly inappropriate",<ref name="HennebergerNYTimes25091993">{{cite news|last=Henneberger|first=Melinda|date=September 25, 1993|title=Connecticut Prosecutor Won't File Charges Against Woody Allen|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/25/nyregion/connecticut-prosecutor-won-t-file-charges-against-woody-allen.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marks|first=Peter|date=June 8, 1993|title=Allen Loses to Farrow in Bitter Custody Battle|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/02/23/reviews/farrow-verdict.html}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Wilk|first=Elliot J.|title=Custody Case Ruling|date=July 6, 1993|publisher=Supreme Court: New York County|quote=The evidence suggests that it is unlikely that he could be successfully prosecuted for sexual abuse. I am less certain, however, than is the Yale-New Haven team, that the evidence proves conclusively that there was no sexual abuse.}}</ref> although not sexual.<ref>{{Citation|last=Wilk|first=Elliot J.|title=Custody Case Ruling|date=June 7, 1993|publisher=Supreme Court: New York County|quote=I did not see it as sexual, but I saw it as inappropriately intense because it excluded everybody else}}</ref> In September 1993, the state prosecutor announced that despite having "probable cause", he would not pursue charges in order "to avoid the unjustifiable risk of exposing a child to the rigors and uncertainties of a questionable prosecution".<ref name="HennebergerNYTimes25091993" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Maco|first=Frank, S.|date=November 24, 1993|title=Statement of Decision 9-24-1993|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/204662575/Statement-of-Decision-9-24-1993|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Scribd}}</ref> In October 1993 the [[New York State Office of Children and Family Services|New York Child Welfare Agency]] of the [[New York State Department of Family Assistance|State Department of Social Services]] closed a 14-month investigation and concluded there was not credible evidence of abuse or maltreatment, and the allegation was unfounded.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Perez-Pena|first=Richard|date=October 26, 1993|title=Agency Drops Abuse Inquiry in Allen Case|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/26/nyregion/agency-drops-abuse-inquiry-in-allen-case.html|access-date=March 24, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2014, when Allen received a [[Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award]] for Lifetime Achievement, the issue returned to the forefront of media attention, with [[Mia Farrow]] and [[Ronan Farrow]] making disparaging remarks about Allen on Twitter.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 13, 2014|title=Golden Globes 2014: Mia and Ronan Farrow tweet about Woody Allen|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|url=https://ew.com/article/2014/01/13/woody-allen-golden-globes-ronan-farrow-mia-farrow/|access-date=March 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pulver|first=Andrew|date=January 13, 2014|title=Woody Allen Golden Globe greeted with derision by Mia and Ronan Farrow|language=en-GB|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/13/golden-globes-woody-allen-mia-farrow-tweet|access-date=March 28, 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> On February 1, 2014, ''[[New York Times]]'' journalist [[Nicholas Kristof]], with Dylan's permission, published a column that included excerpts from a letter Dylan had written to Kristof restating the allegation against Allen, and called out fellow actors who have continued to work in his films.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas|author-link=Nicholas Kristof|date=February 2, 2014|title=Dylan Farrow's Story|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/opinion/sunday/kristof-dylan-farrows-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202020347/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/opinion/sunday/kristof-dylan-farrows-story.html |archive-date=2014-02-02 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=September 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Farrow|first=Dylan|date=February 1, 2014|title=An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow|url=https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/an-open-letter-from-dylan-farrow/|access-date=September 8, 2020|website=On the Ground|language=en-US}}</ref> Allen responded to the allegation in an open letter, also in ''The New York Times,'' strongly denying it. "Of course, I did not molest Dylan...No one wants to discourage abuse victims from speaking out, but one must bear in mind that sometimes there are people who are falsely accused and that is also a terribly destructive thing", he wrote.<ref>{{cite news|last=Allen|first=Woody|date=February 9, 2014|title=Woody Allen Speaks Out|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/opinion/sunday/woody-allen-speaks-out.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208022539/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/opinion/sunday/woody-allen-speaks-out.html |archive-date=2014-02-08 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Hadley|last=Freeman|date=11 December 2020|title=Moses Farrow: 'I'd be very happy to take my father's surname'|url=https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/11/moses-farrow-id-be-very-happy-to-take-my-fathers-surname|access-date=28 December 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Holson|first=Laura M.|date=May 24, 2018|title=Moses Farrow Defends Woody Allen, and His Family Pushes Back|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/arts/moses-farrow-woody-allen-dylan-abuse.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524230630/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/arts/moses-farrow-woody-allen-dylan-abuse.html |archive-date=2018-05-24 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=December 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2018, [[Moses Farrow]] (Mia Farrow's and Allen's adopted son who was present at her Bridgewater house during Allen's visit) published a blog post called "A Son Speaks Out." In the post, Moses strenuously denied the abuse allegations, writing, "given the incredibly inaccurate and misleading attacks on my father, Woody Allen, I feel that I can no longer stay silent as he continues to be condemned for a crime he did not commit." He also recounted a series of instances of alleged physical abuse at the hands of Mia Farrow: "It pains me to recall instances in which I witnessed siblings, some blind or physically disabled, dragged down a flight of stairs to be thrown into a bedroom or a closet, then having the door locked from the outside. [Mia] even shut my brother Thaddeus, paraplegic from polio, in an outdoor shed overnight as punishment for a minor transgression".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hoyle|first=Ben|date=May 25, 2018|title=Mia Farrow abused me, says son Moses|language=en|work=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mia-farrow-abused-me-says-son-moses-qbcdnm589|access-date=February 3, 2022|issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=A SON SPEAKS OUT By Moses Farrow|url=http://mosesfarrow.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-son-speaks-out-by-moses-farrow.html|access-date=2021-12-28|website=A SON SPEAKS OUT By Moses Farrow}}</ref> [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] remained largely split over the allegation. Some defended Dylan's allegation, while others vouched for Allen's innocence, citing potential [[extortion]] from Farrow as a result of Allen and Soon-Yi's courtship.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marks |first=Peter |date=1993-03-30 |title=Doctor Recounts Threats By Farrow Against Allen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/30/nyregion/doctor-recounts-threats-by-farrow-against-allen.html |access-date=2024-03-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page