As I’ve said before, I believe the dividing line between “people who knew about Dylan Farrow’s accusations against Woody Allen” and “people who didn’t know” happened in February 2014. That’s when Dylan wrote her open letter and told her story publicly for the first time. Before that, there were rumors and old tabloid stories and unverified accounts of what happened. While I think Woody’s gross predilections – for teenage girls, for one-dimensional female characters, for being generally gross – were well-known, I just don’t think that most actors, pre-2014, really knew the scope of Dylan’s accusations or the real history. But after Dylan’s essay, actors knew. If you were signing onto a Woody Allen after that, you had to know what you were doing. You had to know you were going to get questions about it.
But a weird thing happened – actors still signed on to his projects, from Blake Lively to Joaquin Phoenix to Emma Stone to Jesse Eisenberg to Steve Carrel to Kate Winslet to Miley Cyrus to Justin Timberlake. Last fall, Woody Allen filmed a new movie in New York, starring Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Timothee Chalamet, Jude Law and Rebecca Hall. Rebecca Hall had worked with Woody before, on Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She probably didn’t know back then. But she definitely knew before she started work last fall, right? Well, I guess Hall had a come-to-Jesus moment in the past week, because she says she’s donating her entire salary from the film to Time’s Up, and she pledges to never work with Allen again. From her Instagram:
The day after the Weinstein accusation broke in full force I was shooting a day of work on Woody Allen’s latest movie in New York. I couldn’t have imagined somewhere stranger to be that day. When asked to do so, some seven months ago, I quickly said yes. He gave me one of my first significant roles in film for which I have always been grateful, it was one day in my hometown – easy. I have, however subsequently realized there is nothing easy about any of this.
In the weeks following I have thought very deeply about this decision, and remain conflicted and saddened.
After reading and re-reading Dylan Farrow’s statements of a few days ago and going back and reading the older ones – I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed. That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry. I regret this decision and wouldn’t make the same one today.
It’s a small gesture and not one intended as close to compensation but I’ve donated my wage to @timesup. I’ve also signed up, will continue to donate, and look forward to working with and being part of this positive movement towards change not just in Hollywood but hopefully everywhere. #timesup
We can debate who knew what and when and we can throw around “cancellations” and all of that, but should we also allow for people to grow and change their minds and apologize for their mistakes? I’m not turning into a softie – I think Rebecca didn’t give a sh-t seven months ago about Dylan Farrow. I think Hall only started to give a sh-t when she started imagining how f–king awkward the press tour for this film was going to be. But that’s a good thing – it should be awkward, and that’s how all of this is supposed to work. Plus, I think this is the way to make these kinds of “I now disavow this person” statements. It’s good PR.
…Of course, I now wonder if Jude Law or Timothee Chalamet or Justin Timberlake will be making similar statements, or if only *women* are being held accountable for Woody Allen. You know who’s accountable for Woody Allen? Woody Allen. But if you’re going to hold the people who work with him accountable, hold women AND MEN accountable too.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I appreciate this gesture, and so does Dylan (she has sent a message to Rebcca via Tw).
Kudos to Rebecca – better late than never.
Being a woman and half black, I would have presumed given her heritage – she’d be even more attuned to the stifling of voices and was disappointed to see she had worked with him.
Let’s not forget one of the biggest young stars to have worked for Allen very recently:
Kristen Stewart. Complete with eye let socks and pigtails to look much younger than her age (heave, blech).
I think her mum’s half black. She’s a quarter and if you didn’t know it you’d never know from her appearance.
@suite
I’m sooooo very sorry I offended you for mentioning her black heritage and culture, that I’m sure she’s proud of.
I’m a black girl from Detroit who isn’t that different from her Mom. Her Mom grew up in the D in the 50s and 60s, lived through the riots, and that era’s racism.
What you think Rebecca Hall looks like is irrelevant, it’s her background I was referring to.
I could not disagree more about 2014 being some sort of dividing line. If the story that’s been ingrained in Hollywood is about a brutally bitter break up and manipulation of children to hate their father then the letter changed nothing…and the public kept coming…and Blanchett won her Oscar…the reviews were OK..and nothing changed.
But yes people are having their pre-conceived notions challenged, and yes they can grow, change, and regret. It’s fine. I mean I just cannot get that worked up about this when heaven knows how many agents and managers who actively procured victims for Weinstein, Singer, and others are still happily working away.
The truth is I don’t think this movie will see the light of day for years (after he’s dead most likely). Then like Michael Jackson it will be examined as the work of a “complicated” genius. Same old story.
Please…before you back your bus over Michael Jackson…get the facts…and do NOT!
+1 Lala!
Allen’s fans would say the same. And Jackson had several accusers (not during a contentious break up)…Allen had one. 🤷♀️ I don’t know the truth about either (I only have beliefs). The only thing we have in these cases is what we “believe”, not what we “know”. That’s why I just cannot get too upset unless people are actively enabling abuse. It’s complicated and very grey.
Why not? Why is he exempt?
Prediction: Elle, Selena and Timothee will not promote this new movie. They won’t be able to handle the questions…hell, even Kate Winslet can’t!
He’ll probably have to go back to Europe for financing and cast foreign actors for his next project. The French will always love him.
Why are only women apologizing for working with Woody Allen and nothing is being said about the men? Why do men continually get a free pass?
Exactly.
And there was a good point made about this and the Greta Gerwig apology.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/greta-gerwig-woody-allen-sexual-harassment-ronan-farrow-film-work-together-actor-a8153701.html
Yess!! Where are the men? Why are women penalized twice?
x1000
…Of course, I now wonder if Jude Law or Timothee Chalamet or Justin Timberlake will be making similar statements, or if only *women* are being held accountable for Woody Allen. You know who’s accountable for Woody Allen? Woody Allen. But if you’re going to hold the people who work with him accountable, hold women AND MEN accountable too.
The promo for the next movie is going to be a mess. I bet some of the actors are praying that is not released.
Yes, yes, yes. I want the men to be asked and pressed for a real response/course of action.
When Timberlake is doing press for the Super Bowl ASK HIM.
The next time Jude Law wears the TimesUp pin ASK HIM.
As Chalamet continues his award campaign in talk shows, print and on red carpets ASK HIM.
(And don’t let Chalamet get away with a dodge again just because he’s talented and seems so nice… he was asked by Christiane Amanpour and he says he didn’t want to talk about it now and the right time was when and “if” the movie is released).
Well done, Rebecca! Such strength! She’s been one of my fave actors since The Town. It’s starting to feel a lot like a Movement now. 💕
Yeah please ask men too!
Um, yes, we should allow people to grow and change their minds and apologize. If we don’t do that, then who are we? This is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s about changing a culture that’s been ingrained since the beginning of time. Scorched earth, while it might feel good momentarily, isn’t going to get us anywhere in the long run.
Not judging any woman for working with Woody because men never are. Dylan and people on this site are part of the problem in blaming women for men’s action. Every time an actress is cast by him there is a big “how could she” discussion about her. Not a blink at men. Until VERY recently.
In a long run, it’s a positive thing, there are finally movements to disavow Allen. Hopefully by the time his new movie comes out, no one is in his corner. And at least this is an admission that it is not ok to support a child molester. It is very different talk from Allen’s bigest fan who keeps saying she knows nothing because Allen never sat her down and explained himself. At least this is an admission of Dylan Farrow and her truth.
My parents fostered a number of children over the years. My two youngest brothers, now in their 20s were actually fostered at the age of 3 months old and grew up with us, legally changing their name to our family name when they turned 18. The first few months they spent with their mother, (who didn’t abuse or physically neglect them but was unable to form an emotional bond with them) has had a huge and lasting impact on their emotional and psychological development. The act of being taken away from her, even at the age of three months and placed in foster care, was a very traumatising event in their lives. Growing up in foster car; the insecurity if it, knowing they could be taken away at any time or fearing that we would reject them, played a very significant aspect in their development. Even though they grew up in a staple, loving, nurturing, functional family for almost their entire lives, their emotional development was stunted and although they might have been adults legally at 18, anybody who knew them could see that emotionally, they were still very much children. They were incredibly vulnerable and open to manipulation, and we’ve seen it with ‘friends’ who take advantage of them. If somebody, a relation who they loved and trusted, had wanted to exploit them, it would have been incredibly easy to do so. If a relation or any adult who had been in a position of responsibility or authority had begun a sexual relationship with them, I would have killed that person.
My brothers were best case scenario. Soon-Yi was worst case; abused, abandoned, brought to a foreign country with a completely different language and culture, into a family that (with all due respect to the Farrows) might not have been the most staple environment to grow up in, apparently she had learning difficulties too (hardly surprising). At 18, she might legally have been an adult, but she was an incredibly vulnerable, traumatised, abused young woman who I very much doubt had the emotional and psychological development of an adult and Woody Allen, an adult who had been in a position of trust and authority in her life, began a sexual relationship with her. By beginning a relationship with her, he cut her off from her family and support network and turned them against her, isolating her entirely and and leaving her utterly dependent on him.
Even if the Dylan Farrow accusations were proved to be false, even if she came out tomorrow and said she made the whole thing up, Woody Allen is still a 100% abusive creep, he is still repulsive and vile, and I have no time for anybody who works with him and defends him in any way. So many times, the conversation about what he did centers on Dylan Farrow, but Soon-Yi is his victim too, still his victim and that should never be forgotten.
YES! My god why does everyone act like her being 18 was the be all end all of human existence. I remember her back then and she looked like a scared pre teen. And anyone who thinks he waited until her 18th birthday to touch her is naive to the point of mental deficiency. He groomed her from day one. I think of her less as a wife and more of a hostage. I worry about their adopted girls. He has always been trash. But he was trendy. And the same people who are gung ho against sexual assualt would fall all over themselves to star in his movies. Why? Because the only thing they really want is fame.
It’s not the be all and end all but at 18 your an adult by law, your only answer is to yourself.
Right. Her having been at least 18 before anything happened was the one thing that kept it from being a sex crime instead of just immoral, creepy, toxic, and selfish. I know there’s some murkiness about Soon VI’s true DOB, but I find it hard to believe that mattered either way to Woody Allen.
Well done, Ninks. Agree on all counts.
Thank you for your post. I wish people who work with Allen were aware of that.
I have a question. I was rereading some old articles dealing with sexual abuse, to see how this topic used to be handled in the English-speaking press not so long ago, and I stumbled upon some articles about the aftermath of the Duke lacrosse team case. I got me wondering : when does exoneration or the end of prosecution matter ?
In both the Farrow/Allen case and the Duke lacrosse team case, there was one plaintiff (Dylan Farrow, Crystal Mangum). In both cases, the accused (Woody Allen, the team) denied. In both cases, the prosecution eventually dropped the case without even going to trial. In both cases, the plaintiff maintains her accusations and testimony to this day. Yet, in the Duke lacrosse team case, there appears to be a general consensus that the men are innocent while in the Farrow/Allen case, the consensus now appears to cristallise around Allen’s guilt.
I genuinely wonder why that is. Why is Crystal Mangum’s continued accusation not audible even though Dylan Farrow’s is ? Is it solely a matter of the latter having a twitter account and calling out people by name ? If Ms. Mangum had access to such a public forum, would the consensus around the Duke lacrosse team change ?
Crystal Mangum doesn’t have money, she is a black woman, and she is a sex worker (stripper). I believe she may also have recorded mental health issues.
Any one of the above factors is enough to complicate legal matters in an assault case, but the fact that Crystal Mangum had all of the above, I believe the prosecution decided the case was too tough to prosecute, not to mention there were discrepancies in her story, as tends to happen with victims. (Seems like sex assault crimes require a perfect victim for prosecution to occur)
This site is not typical for believing victims – if you go to many other places, you will find that there are all sorts of reasons given for why women supposedly lie about assault like needing money, revenge motives, they were drunk and regret their actions, etc.
So no, I don’t believ Mangum having a Twitter account would change things significantly. She is not generally going to be given space to write op-EDs in the nytimes or Latimes either. If one of her accusers ended up running for office, maybe we would re-examine the case, but even then, many people have noted that #metoo seems more to apply to rich white women.
Stories of women working in factories or other low paid jobs who have no other alternative than to take the abuse don’t get as much publicity.
Yours is indeed an extremely fair point. The metoo movement has now, to a large degree, become a movement for, by and with “powerful” white women (I put the powerful in between inverted commas because their power is still relative and overall dwarved by that of their male counterparts). So Dylan Farrow, white (to the best of my knowledge) daughter of Hollywood, has a better shot at being heard than an unprivileged woman like Crystal Mangum.
However, my question was sort of more “conceptual” (I am sorry, I realise this word sounds dreadfully pedantic but it is the only one I can find) : does what the justice system say/decide matter at all ? Is it something we can/should take into account ?
I am under no illusion that the criminal justice system is perfect because it so very obviously isn’t. We can all, fairly easily, name at least 10 examples of miscarriages of justice, be it on the guilty or the not guilty side. But it is what it is and we have to make do with it, I suppose. Now, in both the Duke lacrosse team case and the Farrow/Allen case, the plaintiff’s accusations were investigated by police officers and prosecutors who, to the best of my knowledge, appeared sincerely motivated. And in both cases, the prosecution decided to drop the charges without going to trial.
Do/should we take that into account at all ? Does/should it matter when we discuss those cases ?
To put it inelegantly, Dylan Farrow is granted a fifth quarter in the court of public opinion, Crystal Mangum isn’t. You explained perfectly why such a discrepancy exists, why in one case everyone appears to accept the prosecution’s decision and in the other not so much, but I am perplexed as to the very existence of a “fifth quarter” when the first four took place within the justice system. What place or value, if any, do we give to institutional responses ?
Well not everyone accepts Dylan Farrow’s abuse occurred at the hands of Allen. Just like many people don’t believe Johnny Depp abused Amber, or I am sure that many people in France don’t believe Melissa George was beaten by her husband in France, or that Aurora Perrineau was raped by Murray Miller, and many don’t believe the stories of the women who came out against Roy Moore.
I don’t think I get what you are asking. Court of public opinion only matters depending on who you are and how the justices system has treated you, and the empathy you have for others.
Give me a break, you jumped at the chance to work with Woody despite his reputation. You haven’t been living under a rock, your management company etc knew all about Woody. Now, after being called out, you are giving up the money.
Thanks but no thanks.
I’m not bothered by people deciding they’re not going to make the same choices again.
I think Timothee will likely get a pass because hes relatively new to Hollywood and can ride the ” I didnt know ” train.
I wish though that more people were honest though and admitted that because his films do well during awards season (well at least they used to – I dont think anything passed Blue Jasmine has done well) that they wanted the accolades. They wanted to boost their career.
I can’t see why he would get a pass. The guy is 22 not 12 and the films was shot just last autumn meaning he didn’t sign for it ages ago.
He’s been constantly working on screen or theater since he’s a kid, with many of his relatives working in the biz.
He’s not exactly some little sparrow who fell from the nest yesterday. Or gavé the same excuse to Elle Fanning.
The fact that he has been working for years (?) doesn’t mean that he has any kind of position in the industry. He’s just a kid, who was literally a nobody when he signed to be part of this film, and when you’re a 21-year-old nobody in Hollywood of course you don’t say no to work with Woody Allen.
I don’t like Woody Allen, not even when he actually made good films, but what if instead of pointing our fingers at all these actors whose only crime has been working with the wrong person, we just don’t ask ourselves why is this man still allowed to work? Or better, why doesn’t the press ask him directly about all these accusations. Instead, we oblige people like Greta Gerwig to speak up about something they have no control about. Honestly, I hated her statement and not because of what she says in it, but because of the reasons behind it. Greta only released it because she was cornered at the GG press conference, not because she genuinely felt the need say something.
I don’t understand why are we so obsessed to hear what these actors have to say especially when they do it because they have no other option (Greta) or because they want to save their faces (Rebecca Hall). To me this is part of the problem, a lot of these actors only speak or act because we are hungrily demanding it, and it makes them look good—that’s why we had people like James Franco wearing a Time’s Up pin at the Globes. I don’t care about what Fanning or Gomez or Law have to say, I want to hear the real victims and I want to hear what creeps as Allen has to say about all this, not these actors that have nothing to do with what happened.
And btw, as far as I know, Chalamet is the only actor of this film that has actually been asked a few times about how he feels about working with Allen, and even thought people has been slamming him for his response (He said he will talk when he feels it’s the right time for him to do so), I think he has been the most honest of the bunch.
@Coco
I completely agree. Some parts of this discussion I hate, because eventually it devolves into blaming the “bit players” i.e. actors into not changing the industry. When the real perpetrators are the ones who keep financing his films–the studios, producers, etc……….the ones in actual power. I don’t want to hear from ONE actor who, when he/she says no will only be replaced with someone more desperate to say yes. I want to hear from the guy at Weinstein’s level or above Weinstein or the guy who could cut access from Weinstein i.e. agents and managers………and why they didn’t do their jobs.
This is why I thought wearing all black at the GGs was stupid. Because then it became something that EVERYONE had to do and if they didn’t they were dragged, and if they did–well the ones who were dragged were asswipes, but they would’ve been dragged either way (Franco).
Im not saying that he deserves the excuse. I was just saying that I could see the media giving him an excuse. Which now he has come out and made a statement and donated his salary anyway.
And before 2017, I had NEVER heard of the guy. And Im sure most of the world hadnt either. His name hasnt had the same kind of recognition as Elle or Selena would.
He just spoke out in the press and said he was donating his entire salary to MeToo.
In an ideal world everyone would do the right thing the first time, but when that doesn’t happen, it’s good to see someone reconsider their position, learn from others, and make better choices.
I’m very glad Rebecca did this, and I think we may finally, FINALLY, be seeing the end of Woody Allen getting a pass.
I find so sad that an actress has to make apologies and forfeit her hard earned money because of a man’s predatory behavior…. a man who was put in charge by producers, something cast has no control over. We are so hard on these actors ‘condoning’ or being hypocritical …. just because they’re in the public eye … an average person does no better in their daily life , still buying clothes from companies that produce them in sweatshops and use child labor, eating at food chains that abuse employees and animals, buy skincare products that are full of cancer causing agents and are tested on animals . Every single one of us condones something consciously or not that hurts someone or something else we just like to point fingers. I feel bad for her and every female actress who had been held responsible for HIS actions
Chalamet just announced he’s doing the same. There’s hope yet for a younger, better generation of Hollywood men.