Dylan Farrow is wondering when Hollywood plans to hold Woody Allen accountable for his alleged sexual abuse of her.
In a statement to BuzzFeed on Monday, Farrow said it is troubling for her to watch celebrities such as Blake Lively and Justin Timberlake support the Time’s Up initiative on sexual misconduct, given that they have appeared in Allen’s films. Since 1992, Farrow has stood by her accusation that Allen, her adoptive father, sexually abused her when she was a child. Allen has continually denied Farrow’s allegations.
Throughout the dispute, big stars have continued to work with Allen. Even in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the more recent Time’s Up initiative (which dominated Golden Globes coverage), celebrities compliment Allen’s work and vie to act in his movies.
“I fully support women taking a stand, linking arms with other women (and men), advocating on behalf of one another to effect change not only in the entertainment industry but in the world at large. That is an admirable and worthwhile objective, I hope these women change the world,” Farrow said.
“That said,” she continued, “the people who join this movement without taking any kind of personal accountability for the ways in which their own words and decisions have helped to perpetuate the culture they are fighting against, that’s hard for me to reconcile.
A representative for Allen did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment.
“I struggle to understand how a woman who believes Woody Allen is ‘empowering to women’ can claim the role as an advocate for women suffering from sexual harassment.”
- Dylan Farrow
The Time’s Up initiative was announced on New Year’s Day, and includes more than 300 women in television, film and theater. The project, inspired by the recent #MeToo movement, aims to combat sexual misconduct in all workplaces. As part of the initiative, celebrities wore all black to the Golden Globes on Sunday as a quiet sign of protest against sexual violence.
Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Greta Gerwig, Cate Blanchett and Lively are just some of the stars to sign the initial Time’s Up letter who have also worked with Allen.
Farrow called out Timberlake, who supports the Time’s Up initiative and starred in Allen’s 2017 film “Wonder Wheel.” She also spotlighted Lively, who appeared in his 2016 film “Cafe Society” and said Allen is “empowering to women.”
“I struggle to understand how a woman who believes Woody Allen is ‘empowering to women’ can claim the role as an advocate for women suffering from sexual harassment,” Farrow said. “I struggle with how a powerful force like Justin Timberlake can claim to be in awe of the strength of women and stand with them at this #MeToo moment and then in the next breath say that working with Woody Allen is a ‘dream come true.’”
In an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in November, Timberlake said “working with Woody Allen was like a dream come true.”
“It’s of course particularly hard for me as a survivor of sexual abuse to know that for these particular individuals I am not part of the ‘every woman’ they stand for,” Farrow said. “I seem to remain secondary to their ambition, which undermines the powerful and embracing message they are trying to send.”