Woody Allen’s son Ronan Farrow opened up in a new interview about how his upbringing affected him personally and professionally.
“You see early in life with that kind of a family background the way in which the most powerful men in America wield power for good and for ill,” the 30-year-old journalist said in his cover story for The Hollywood Reporter. “And probably, yes, the family background made me someone who understood the abuse of power from an early age.”
Allen, 82, has been the subject of sexual assault allegations for decades. In 1992, the filmmaker’s daughter Dylan Farrow accused him of molesting her when she was 7 years old, an allegation that she has stood by ever since. Dylan, now 32, further detailed the alleged abuse in an op-ed for The New York Times in 2014. Allen has repeatedly denied the claims and was never criminally charged.
“It’s not a subject we discussed as a family,” Dylan and Ronan’s mother, actress Mia Farrow, told The Hollywood Reporter. When asked the last time he spoke to his father, Ronan said, “I don’t actually know the answer to that. We have had contact over the years, but he is not someone that I keep up with regularly.”
Ronan helped uncover film mogul Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual abuse last October when he wrote an extensive piece for The New Yorker that included on-the-record allegations made by several women. (The producer has denied any claims of non-consensual sex.)
The molestation allegations against Allen came to light again earlier this week when actress Greta Gerwig told The New York Times that she regrets working with the director on his 2012 film To Rome With Love. “If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film,” she said. Dylan later thanked the Lady Bird director, 34, on Twitter, writing, “Greta, thank you for your voice. Thank you for your words. Please know they are deeply felt and appreciated.”
