Film director Woody Allen, who has been accused of sexual assault by his adopted daughter, told the BBC Sunday that he was not aware of Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual abuse, much of which has come to light in recent weeks.
“No one ever came to me or told me horror stories with any real seriousness,” the director said. “And they wouldn’t, because you are not interested in it. You are interested in making your movie.”
“But you do hear a million fanciful rumors all the time,” Allen added. “And some turn out to be true and some — many — are just stories about this actress, or that actor.”
The director was accused of sexually assaulting his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, when she was 7 years old. The reports first emerged in 1993, but were brought to light once again when Dylan reiterated her story in a 2014 New York Times piece. The director denied the allegations.
At a time when many shunned Allen over the allegations, Weinstein offered him a deal for the 1994 film “Bullets Over Broadway.” Allen would work with Miramax, the production company Weinstein co-founded, on several more films in the 1990s.
“The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved,” Allen told the BBC. “Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that [his] life is so messed up. There’s no winners in that, it’s just very, very sad and tragic for those poor women that had to go through that.”
Since the shocking allegations against Weinstein surfaced, the producer was fired from The Weinstein Company, and his executive producer credit will be removed from TV shows and upcoming films. On Saturday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled Weinstein.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly implied that Allen was accused of multiple instances of sexual assault.