Dylan Farrow gave an interview to People Magazine on Thursday, speaking out against the backlash that has ensued since she had an open letter published in the New York Times which claimed her adoptive father, Woody Allen, sexually abused her as a child. After the letter went public, fans and friends–including Barbara Walters–of Allen reacted online and in the media, many of them expressing disbelief that he would ever hurt a child. Farrow, however, maintains her story and says she didn’t do it to gain notoriety or to take the spotlight away from Allen just before the Oscars, but to hopefully help others who have faced what she has.
“It took all of my strength and all of my emotional fortitude to do what I did this week in the hope that it would put the truth out there,” says Dylan, now 28. “That is my only ammunition. I don’t have money or publicists or limos or fancy apartments in Manhattan. All I have is the truth and that is all I put out there.”
Farrow says that Allen’s abuse began when she was just seven years old and was carefully hidden from her mother, actress Mia. A criminal investigation in 1992 found probable cause but never led to charges placed against Allen, mostly because state prosecutor Frank S. Maco believed that Dylan was too fragile emotionally to handle a trial, and Mia Farrow agreed. For his part, Allen has spoken out through a rep about the open letter, saying the allegations were “untrue and disgraceful”.
The allegations were brought back into the spotlight after this year’s Golden Globe Awards, when Allen was given the Cecil B. Demille lifetime achievement award by Diane Keaton, who accepted on his behalf. After her speech, Dylan’s brother Ronan tweeted, “Missed the Woody Allen tribute – did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?” Soon after, a media frenzy ensued.
As for Dylan’s intentions, rumors have began that she wrote the letter to throw Allen in a bad light during awards season, something she denies.
“I’ve been hearing that a lot,” she said. “I’m happy to answer that. My intention in writing that piece was to put the truth on paper from a voice that was not able to speak before…people are saying that I am not actually remembering what I remember. People are saying that my ‘evil mother’ brainwashed me because they refuse to believe that my sick, evil father would ever molest me, because we live in this society where victim blaming and inexcusable behavior – this taboo against shaming the famous at the expense of their victims – is accepted and excused.”
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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