Woody Allen Claims “Everything Has Been the Same” Since He Was Accused of Sexual Abuse: “I Don’t Know What It Means to Be Canceled”

Woody Allen recently shared his thoughts on cancel culture and addressed the accusations that he sexually abused his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a child.

The filmmaker, who was present at the Venice Film Festival to debut his latest film Coup de Chance, admitted that he found cancel culture to be “so silly.”

“I feel if you’re going to be canceled, this is the culture to be canceled by,” he told Variety in an interview published Sunday (Sept. 3). “I just find that all so silly. I don’t think about it. I don’t know what it means to be canceled. I know that over the years everything has been the same for me. I make my movies. What has changed is the presentation of the films.”

He also maintained that he’s “never” received any complaints from the women he’s worked with over the years.

“I’ve always had very good parts for women, always had women in the crew, always paid them the exact same amount that we paid men, worked with hundreds of actresses, and never, ever had a single complaint from any of them at any point,” he stated. “Not a single one ever said, ‘Working with him, he was mean or he was harassing.’ That’s just not been an issue.”

Farrow first accused Allen of sexually abusing her in 1992 when she was seven years old.

Farrow later shared her story again, in detail, in 2014 when Allen received a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes. She also addressed it in Allen v. Farrow, the HBO documentary that showed video footage of Farrow describing what happened just days after the alleged incident.

Allen has long denied the accusations, claiming Farrow’s mother, actress Mia Farrow, had coached Dylan to make the claims after learning of his relationship with her daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, who has been married to Allen since 1997. According to The New York Times, Mia adopted Previn from Korea when she was seven years old, approximately two years before she met Allen. Allen later began having an affair with Previn when she was 21 years old.

Speaking to Variety, Allen once again denied the accusations from Dylan.

“The situation has been investigated by two people, two major bodies, not people, but two major investigative bodies. And both, after long detailed investigations, concluded there was no merit to these charges,” he said, before later adding, “The fact that it lingers on always makes me think that maybe people like the idea that it lingers on. You know, maybe there’s something appealing to people. But why?”

He also stated that he was “always willing to” see Dylan and her brother, journalist Ronan Farrow, but he has not been in contact with them.

The filmmaker also called the #MeToo movement “silly” and “foolish,” saying, “It’s silly, you know, when it’s not really a feminist issue or an issue of unfairness to women. When it’s being too extreme in trying to make it into an issue when, in fact, most people would not regard it as any kind of offensive situation.”

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.