Woody Allen’s memoir A Propos of Nothing dropped by publisher following backlash

Cancellation announced after employee walkout and criticism from Dylan Farrow and her brother Ronan

Woddy Allen on 9 July 2019 in San Sebastian. (ANDER GILLENEA/AFP via Getty Images)

Woody Allen’s publisher has cancelled the planned release of his memoir after a backlash.

Hachette Book Group made the announcement on Friday after days of criticism focused on allegations that Allen sexually abused his daughter Dylan Farrow – which Allen denies.

On Thursday, dozens of Hachette employees staged a walkout. Dylan Farrow and her brother Ronan had both spoken out against the planned memoir in separate statements.

“The decision to cancel Mr Allen’s book was a difficult one. At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly,” the publisher announced.

“We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books. As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of views can be heard.”

Allen’s book was scheduled to come out next month.

Allen’s agreement with Hachette meant that he briefly shared a publisher with his son Ronan, whose book Catch and Kill on the Harvey Weinstein scandal was released last year by the Hachette division Little, Brown and Company.

“Hachette’s publishing of Woody Allen’s memoir is deeply upsetting to me personally and an utter betrayal of my brother whose brave reporting, capitalised on by Hachette, gave voice to numerous survivors of sexual assault by powerful men,” Dylan Farrow said in a statement on Monday, hours after details of the book were released by The Associated Press.

Ronan Farrow followed up a day later, calling Hachette’s decision “wildly unprofessional.”

Additional reporting by agencies