The Conversation (0)
Clara Hill
Feb 23, 2021
A new documentary series, Allen v Farrow, has put historic sexual assault allegations against Woody Allen back in the headlines.
The four-part series, directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Zierling, looks in-depth at the claims against the Hollywood director.
Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn have refuted all the allegations presented in the show.
In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, they called the series a “hatchet job riddled with falsehoods”. They added: “While this shoddy hit piece may gain attention, it does not change the facts.”
1977: Actor Mia Farrow and husband Andre Previn adopt Soon-Yi
The adoption took place in South Korea when Soon-Yi was seven years old, adding to Mia’s existing family of biological sons Matthew, Sascha and Fletcher and adopted children Lark and Daisy.
1979
Mia Farrow and Woody Allen meet for the first time in New York City. They will go on to collaborate on seven films together.
1980
Mia Farrow adopts Moses Farrow from South Korea.
11 July 1985
Mia Farrow adopts Dylan Farrow, who was born in Texas.
19 December 1987
Mia Farrow gives birth to Satchel Farrow, who later changes his name to Ronan. Rumours fly that he is not Allen’s biological child. Various names have flown around but the most famous is Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow’s ex-husband.
December 1991: Woody Allen formally adopts Dylan and Moses Farrow
Allen legally becomes the two children’s father.
13 January 1992: Mia Farrow finds out about Soon-Yi and Woody’s affair
Mia Farrow unearths nude photographs of Soon-Yi in Allen’s possession. In the HBO documentary series, she says: “She was in her first year of college and they were all just like… They wouldn’t put them in Playboy. They were like, I don’t know, Hustler pictures or something.”
4th August 1992: Dylan Farrow is filmed describing being sexually assaulted
Aged seven, Dylan Farrow claims she was sexually abused by Allen.
13 August 1992: Custody battle for the children begins
Woody Allen sues Mia Farrow for custody of Ronan, Dylan and Moses.
17 August 1992: Woody Allen and Soon-Yi are made officially public
In a statement to the press, Woody Allen announces his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn to the press.
18th August 1992: Woody Allen denies all sexual abuse allegations
Outside The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, Allen labels the accusations of molesting his daughter Dylan Farrow as “false and outrageous”. He declares that Mia Farrow manipulated Dylan Farrow into making the claims to boost her claim for child custody.
18 September 1992: Husbands and Wives is released
The last of their joint films together is remarked as being a very similar story to their real-life relationship – a failing marriage of a writing professor pushed over the edge by his character’s chasing of a younger woman, who happens to be his student. Allen told The Los Angeles Times: “It came out very close to what I wanted to do.”
19 March 1993: Team of investigators says Dylan Farrow was not molested
The Yale-New Haven Hospital report states that Dylan was not molested. These findings were instrumental in leading to no charges being brought against Woody Allen.
7 June 1993: Mia Farrow wins custody of all three children
The presiding judge says the following about Woody Allen “demonstrated no parenting skills that would qualify him as an adequate custodian” and praises Farrow’s parenting.
23 December 1997: Allen marries Soon-Yi Previn
The ceremony is in Venice, Italy.
1 February 2014: Dylan Farrow publishes an open letter
The letter, published by The New York Times, describes in detail Woody Allen’s alleged sexual abuse in 1992 at Mia Farrow’s Connecticut summer home.
5 February 2014: Moses Farrow says Dylan Farrow was abused by Mia Farrow
Moses Farrow speaks to People magazine claiming his mother was abusive, both physically and emotionally. According to Moses, the statement Dylan gave to the authorities was coached by Mia as “a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi.”
7 December 2017: Dylan Farrow compares Woody Allen to Harvey Weinstein
Dylan Farrow writes an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times asking: “Why is it that Harvey Weinstein and other accused celebrities have been cast out by Hollywood, while Allen recently secured a multimillion-dollar distribution deal with Amazon, greenlit by former Amazon Studios executive Roy Price before he was suspended over sexual misconduct allegations?”
18 January 2018: Dylan Farrow lays out abuse allegations in CBS interview
Dylan Farrow is interviewed by Gayle King on CBS, as the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements rock Hollywood. Woody Allen responds to this interview by saying: “I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago.”
16 September 2018: Soon-Yi Previn gives an interview to Vulture
Previn tells journalist Daphne Merkin, who is a friend of Allen’s: “What’s happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust. [Mia] 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.”
21 February 2021: Farrow v Allen airs
The first episode of the four-part documentary airs on HBO.
Read more: Evan Rachel Wood breaks her silence on relationship with Marilyn Manson