Woody Allen condemns ‘self-serving’ actors for denouncing him: ‘Who in the world is not against child molestation?’

Filmmaker compared his Hollywood unpopularity to ‘everybody suddenly eating kale’

Woody Allen has condemned the actors who have denounced him, calling them “self-serving” and asking: “Who in the world is not against child molestation?”

Following historic allegations of sexual abuse made against Allen by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, allegations the filmmaker has always strenuously denied, a number of actors have refused to work with him again.

Speaking to The Guardian, Allen called the protests “silly”.

“The actors have no idea of the facts and they latch on to some self-serving, public, safe position,” he explained. “Who in the world is not against child molestation?”

He continued: “That’s how actors and actresses are, and [denouncing me] became the fashionable thing to do, like everybody suddenly eating kale.”

Allen added that he had hoped that the allegations would go away over time.

He said: “I thought people would see it as laughable rubbish right away and from day one I never really took it seriously. I mean, it’s like being confronted with a story that I murdered six people with a machine gun.

“You can give them the facts over and over. But the facts don’t matter. For some reason, emotionally, it’s important for them to buy into the story.”

Timothee Chalamet, Mira Sorvino, Ellen Page and Greta Gerwig are among the actors who have publicly expressed regret over working with Allen.

Allen’s latest movie, A Rainy Day in New York, unexpectedly became the most successful film in the world this month. Cinemas playing the film in South Korea – which is where it earned over $330,000 in its opening weekend – are among the few to currently be open due to coronavirus.