Scarlett Johansson is standing by her support of Woody Allen, no matter the reaction.
Johansson, 41, reflected on her choice to back Allen, 90, in 2019 as he faced accusations of sexual abuse, telling The Telegraph in an interview published Saturday, November 29, that it’s “hard to know” whether she received any consequences for her actions.
“You never know what the domino effect is, exactly,” Johansson explained, noting that she doesn’t regret being vocal about her own experiences with Allen at the time. “My mom always encouraged me to be myself, [to see] that it’s important to have integrity, and stand up for what you believe in.”
The Jurassic World: Rebirth actress confessed, “At the same time, I think it’s also important to know when it’s not your turn.”
Johansson clarified, “I don’t mean that you should silence yourself. I mean sometimes it’s just not your time. And that’s something I’ve understood more as I’ve matured.”
Allen, a prolific director, became a controversial figure in Hollywood after being accused of molesting ex Mia Farrow’s daughter Dylan Farrow when she was 7 years old. Allen has denied the allegations, which were first reported in 1992 after his split from Mia. (The former couple were together from 1980 to 1992.)
While Allen was never charged for the alleged abuse, Dylan’s accusations have continued to haunt him. In 2014, she wrote a letter for The New York Times publicly detailing her alleged experience for the first time.
Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen. Peter Kramer/Getty Images
Five years later, Johansson, who worked with Allen on 2005’s Match Point, 2006’s Scoop and 2008’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, addressed the scandal.
“How do I feel about Woody Allen? I love Woody,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. “I believe him, and I would work with him anytime.”
Johansson revealed that she and Allen had “a lot of conversations” about his sexual abuse scandal.
“He’s very direct with me,” she said. “He maintains his innocence, and I believe him.”
While Hollywood may appear to be all glitz and glam on the surface, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals through the years. The New York Times and the New Yorker first published investigative pieces in 2017 that accused disgruntled movie producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Soon after, Weinstein stood trial and was […]
Allen has received support from several actors over the years, including the late Diane Keaton and actor Sean Penn, who spoke out in his defense as recently as May. Dylan, now 40, has still maintained that Allen harmed her as a child.
In February 2021, the scandal was brought back into the limelight with the release of HBO’s Allen v. Farrow docuseries.
Later that year, Paramount+ released a CBS Sunday Morning interview with Allen about the controversy, and he denied the accusations once again.
Woody Allen is speaking out following the death of Annie Hall costar Diane Keaton. “It’s grammatically incorrect to say ‘most unique,’ but all rules of grammar, and I guess anything else, are suspended when talking about Diane Keaton. Unlike anyone the planet has experienced or is unlikely to ever see again, her face and laugh […]
“Nothing that I ever did with Dylan in my life could be misconstrued as that,” Allen said in the interview, which was conducted in 2020. “I never was accused of anything in my life. [Then] I’m suddenly going to drive up in the middle of a contentious custody fight at Mia’s country home [with] a 7-year-old girl. It just — on the surface, I didn’t think it required any investigation, even.”
The Annie Hall director claimed Mia, now 80, coached Dylan to say she was molested amid the former couple’s custody battle.
“I believe she thinks it,” Allen said of Dylan, who was his adoptive daughter. “She was a good kid. I do not believe that she’s making it up. I don’t believe she’s lying. I believe she believes that.”
If you or anyone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
