Javier Bardem Defends Woody Allen, Says He Has 'Doubts' About Allegations

The actor added that had the film director been found guilty, he would've stopped working with him.
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Spanish actor Javier Bardem says he has “doubts” about the sexual misconduct allegations against Woody Allen and defended the director in a recent interview about his film “Escobar.”

In discussion with French publication Paris Match, Bardem said he is “absolutely not” ashamed to have worked with Allen when asked if he was. Bardem and his wife, actress Penelope Cruz, both starred in Allen’s 2008 film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

“I am very shocked by this sudden treatment,” said Bardem referring to the recent scrutiny on Allen in light of the Me Too movement. “Judgments in the states of New York and Connecticut found him innocent. The legal situation today is the same as in 2007. If there was evidence that Woody Allen was guilty, then yes, I would have stopped working with him, but I have doubts.”

Bardem did not elaborate as to what the “doubts” he had were about. Dylan Farrow, Allen’s adopted daughter, has accused the film director of molesting her. In a February 2014 op-ed published in The New York Times, Farrow alleges that Allen “routinely did things to make her uncomfortable, such as sticking his thumb in her mouth and placing her head in his lap.” Allen has denied Farrow’s allegations.

Actress Mia Farrow, director Woody Allen, and their children Dylan and Satchel, 13th January 1988.
Actress Mia Farrow, director Woody Allen, and their children Dylan and Satchel, 13th January 1988.
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In another question, Bardem addressed the growing Me Too movement. He said he was uneasy with the idea that women and men are pitted against one another:

“I’m fortunate to have been raised by a very strong mother who taught me to respect women. Today, we have the impression there are men on one side and women on the other, which sends a very bad message to the younger generation,” the actor said.

“The goal is not to be against each other but to be with others,” he added.

Bardem’s wife, Cruz, has spoken out about the Me Too movement as well, telling PorterEdit in February. “It has to change the rules of our industry and all the other industries in which women are being repressed in so many different ways,” she said. “It cannot just be something that’s there to fill.”

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