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Woody Allen Responds to Dylan Farrow’s Open Letter: “I Did Not Molest Dylan… I Loved Her,” Director Writes

Woody Allen
Woody Allen

Here's his side of the story. Woody Allen has responded to Dylan Farrow's open letter — which alleged he sexually abused her at age 7 — with his own rebuttal.

The Oscar-winning director penned a New York Times op-ed published Friday, Feb. 7 detailing his side of the shocking story, including his struggles with Mia Farrow, relationship with wife Soon-Yi Previn (Mia's adopted daughter) and feelings toward adopted daughter Dylan.

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"Being taught to hate your father and made to believe he molested you has already taken a psychological toll on this lovely young woman," he wrote of the 28-year-old. "It’s 21 years later and Dylan has come forward with the accusations that the Yale experts investigated and found false," Allen wrote of Farrow's detailed open letter published Saturday, Feb. 1. "A few little added creative flourishes…seem to have magically appeared during our 21-year estrangement."

As has been the case with his lawyer's comments, Allen blamed his former partner of 12 years, Mia, for the latest controversy involving Dylan's open letter: "Not that I doubt Dylan hasn’t come to believe she’s been molested, but if from the age of 7 a vulnerable child is taught by a strong mother to hate her father because he is a monster who abused her, is it so inconceivable that after many years of this indoctrination the image of me Mia wanted to establish had taken root?" the Oscar winner reasoned.

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(In 1992, Farrow learned of Allen's relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, her adopted daughter with exAndre Previn. The revelation eventually resulted in a bitter custody battle between the longtime partners.)

"Mia took custody of the children and we went our separate ways," he recalled in his open letter. "I was heartbroken. Moses was angry with me. Ronan I didn’t know well because Mia would never let me get close to him from the moment he was born and Dylan, whom I adored and was very close to and about whom Mia called my sister in a rage and said, 'He took my daughter, now I’ll take his.'"

The Blue Jasmine director wrote Friday, "Soon-Yi and I are both hoping that one day she will understand who has really made her a victim and reconnect with us, as Moses has, in a loving, productive way."

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Allen, to help bolster his argument, also shared his fear of confined spaces, refuting the claim that he assulated Dylan in the attic of Mia's Connecticut home: "Even the venue where the fabricated molestation was supposed to have taken place was poorly chosen but interesting," he claimed. "Mia chose the attic of her country house, a place she should have realized I’d never go to because it is a tiny, cramped, enclosed spot where one can hardly stand up and I’m a major claustrophobe," the longtime New York resident continued.

"Of course, I did not molest Dylan," Allen wrote in conclusion. "I loved her and hope one day she will grasp how she has been cheated out of having a loving father and exploited by a mother more interested in her own festering anger than her daughter’s well-being."

In the midst of the controversy, Mia, 68, responded to her daughter's letter on Tuesday, Feb. 4 and tweeted, "I love my daughter. I will always protect her." The humanitarian added, "A lot of ugliness is going to be aimed at me. But this is not about me, it's about her truth." 

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