Never molested my daughter: Woody Allen reiterates

Oscar-winning director Woody Allen has reiterated that he never molested his daughter Dylan Farrow. He says she was relentlessly coached that "her father was a dangerous sexual predator".

Allen had in 2014 written in The New York Times to deny longstanding claims that he molested Dylan when she was a young girl in 1992. While that was meant as his "final word on this entire matter", he reiterated it in light of Dylan's first television interview with "CBS This Morning" about her accusations, reported ew.com.

In a statement, Allen said: "When this claim was first made more than 25 years ago, it was thoroughly investigated by both the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare.

"They both did so for many months and independently concluded that no molestation had ever taken place. Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup.

"Dylan's older brother Moses has said that he witnessed their mother doing exactly that -- relentlessly coaching Dylan, trying to drum into her that her father was a dangerous sexual predator. It seems to have worked -- and, sadly, I'm sure Dylan truly believes what she says.

"But even though the Farrow family is cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time's Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation, that doesn't make it any more true today than it was in the past. I never molested my daughter -- as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago."

The accusations found spotlight once again amidst the volley of allegations against names like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and other men in Hollywood. Dylan penned an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times that called out actors who have worked with Allen and not denounced him over her claims.

Since then, many high-profile actors have publicly expressed empathy for Farrow and have said they regret working with Allen, including Mira Sorvino, Rachel Brosnahan, Greta Gerwig, Rebecca Hall and Timothee Chalamet. Hall and Chalamet, who have parts in Allen's next film, "A Rainy Day in New York", which was scheduled to be released this year, said they would donate their salaries to charities.

Even Colin Firth has said he won't work with Allen in future.

--IANS

rb/dg