‘A hatchet job riddled with falsehoods’: Woody Allen breaks silence after release of new documentary Allen v Farrow

Filmmaker called HBO series a ‘shoddy hit piece’

Woody Allen has condemned a new documentary series exploring allegations that he sexually abused his then-adoptive seven-year-old daughter.

Allen v Farrow, which began in the US last night (21 February), features Dylan Farrow alleging in detail that Allen molested her when she was a child. Allen has categorically denied the allegations, which Farrow first made in 1992.

The documentary features unprecedented access to Farrow and her family, including her brother Ronan and their mother Mia Farrow. Mia and Allen were married from 1980 until 1992.

Allen has always claimed that his daughter was “coached” by Farrow to make the abuse claims, after his former wife discovered he was having an affair with her adoptive daughter, Soon-Yi Previn.

Allen and Previn released a statement decrying the documentary and its makers, Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick, to The Hollywood Reporter, claiming the series is a “shoddy hit piece”.

Read more: Allen v Farrow: Everything you need to know about documentary on Woody Allen sexual abuse allegations

“These documentarians had no interest in the truth,” the statement reads. “Instead, they spent years surreptitiously collaborating with the Farrows and their enablers to put together a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.

“Woody and Soon-Yi were approached less than two months ago and given only a matter of days ‘to respond’. Of course, they declined to do so.”

Filmmaker Woody Allen in 2019 (Ander Gillenea/Getty Images)

It continues: “As has been known for decades, these allegations are categorically false. Multiple agencies investigated them at the time and found that, whatever Dylan Farrow may have been led to believe, absolutely no abuse had ever taken place.

“It is sadly unsurprising that the network to air this is HBO – which has a standing production deal and business relationship with Ronan Farrow. While this shoddy hit piece may gain attention, it does not change the facts.”

Allen v Farrow airs on Sunday nights on HBO, with a UK release date yet to be determined.