The world is reacting following the premiere of HBO‘s Allen v. Farrow, in which Mia Farrow speaks out about her ex Woody Allen‘s alleged molestation of daughter Dylan Farrow at age 7, and their breakup when he had an affair with Mia’s adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. The pair went onto marry, and now have children of their own.
Woody and Soon-Yi issued a statement following the release of the film, calling it a “hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.”
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the disgraced director and his wife said that Allen v. Farrow filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick “had no interest in the truth” and accused the documentarians of “collaborating with the Farrows and their enablers” and only giving them a “matter of days” to respond to the docuseries' allegations.
On Twitter, most users rolled their eyes at Woody’s denial and instead focused on his “obsession” with “young girls,” his marriage to his step-daughter and the “white privilege” that causes everyone to look the other way.
Wrote one critic: “White privilege is letting Woody Allen keep his films playing on HBO MAX, while now running a documentary about his alleged sexual abuse. He's collecting a check, while simultaneously getting exposed on the same platform. Gross.”
Writer Jemele Hill opined: “Whenever I see Woody Allen in the news, I think of Mos Def‘s lyric: “You can laugh and criticize Michael Jackson if you wanna. Woody Allen, molested and married his step-daughter. Same press kickin dirt on Michael's name, show Woody and Soon-Yi at the playoff game (holdin hands)”
Journalist Rebecca Keegan concurred, tweeting: “For years Woody Allen’s rep pressured me and every journalist who covered him to do so a certain way. Dangled and withdrew access based on an outlet’s willingness to ignore his daughter. Watch the doc or don’t, but don’t be naive about Allen’s ability to communicate his own POV.”
Dylan herself thanked followers on social media for their support. “Thank you to everyone for their kind words, the outpouring of support means more to me than I can say. Speaking the truth is so difficult, but I hope any fellow survivors who watched last night know they are not alone. The truth is something that cannot be changed,” she posted to Twitter on Monday.
She added in another tweet, while linking to resources shared by RAINN, “If you feel empowered to speak out, there are resources and support available.”