Woody Allen’s wife speaks out about ‘unjust’ allegations
Woody Allen's wife, Ms Soon-Yi Previn, broke a long silence to defend the US film-maker against allegations of sexual abuse brought by his daughter Dylan Farrow and also spoke out on how she was mistreated by her actress-mother Mia Farrow, who is Allen's ex-wife.
"What's happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust," Ms Previn said in a rare interview with New York magazine published online on Sunday.
She added that Farrow "has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim. And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn't".
In the article by Ms Daphne Merkin, a friend of Allen's, Ms Previn discussed her childhood with her adoptive mother, portraying her as abusive.
She recalled Farrow holding her upside down by her feet, believing the blood draining to her head would "make me smarter or something".
"I do have a little learning disability," Ms Previn said, discussing her difficulties with spelling and homonyms.
"I have never spoken about it, because Mia drummed it into me to be ashamed about it."
Now 47 and married to Allen, 82, for more than 20 years and with two adopted children, Ms Previn was a 21-year-old in 1991 when she began an affair with Allen, who was then 56 and her adoptive mother's husband.
In a statement to the magazine, Dylan said it was "offensive" of Ms Previn to assert that she had been pushed to accuse Allen.
"This only serves to re-victimise me," she said.
"Thanks to my mother, I grew up in a wonderful home."
Dylan also tweeted a statement signed by several of Farrow's biological and adopted children, attesting their mother has always been a "caring and giving parent".
It said: "We reject any effort to deflect from Dylan's allegation by trying to vilify our mum."
Allen, meanwhile, has been deserted by fans and actors, his fame tainted by the scandal.
Actors such as Colin Firth and Greta Gerwig have apologised for having worked with him.
"I am a pariah," Allen told Ms Merkin. "People think that I was Soon-Yi's father, that I raped and married my underage, retarded daughter." - AFP
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