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(JTA) \u2014 The son of Woody Allen and actress Mia Farrow said the director\u2019s \u201cpowerful publicist\u201d pressured reporters to drop investigations into his alleged sexual abuse of Dylan Farrow, his then 7-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
In an essay in The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, Ronan Farrow said Allen\u2019s \u201cPR engine revved into action\u201d when allegations were raised that the Jewish filmmaker sexually assaulted his daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, colleagues at news organizations forwarded me the emails blasted out by Allen’s powerful publicist,\u201d Farrow wrote. \u201cThose emails featured talking points ready-made to be converted into stories, complete with validators on offer \u2014 therapists, lawyers, friends, anyone willing to label a young woman confronting a powerful man as crazy, coached, vindictive. At first they linked to blogs, then to high-profile outlets repeating the talking points \u2014 a self-perpetuating spin machine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farrow said Allen\u2019s publicity team may have have threatened to cut reporters off from its other \u201cA-list clients,\u201d such as Meryl Streep and Will Smith.<\/p>\n
Farrow also said Dylan attempted to speak out in multiple publications, including the Los Angeles Times, before publishing an account in The New York Times in 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were too many relationships at stake,\u201d Farrow said of the Los Angeles Times. \u201cIt was too hot for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In The New York Times account, Dylan Farrow said her father held her down as a 7-year-old and sexually assaulted her in the attic of her then-house.<\/p>\n
Ronan Farrow\u2019s essay coincided with the premiere of Allen\u2019s latest movie \u2014\u201cCaf\u00e9 Society,\u201d starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively and Steve Carell \u2014 at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
During the festival\u2019s opening ceremony, French actor and master of ceremonies Laurent Lafitte made a rape joke aimed at Allen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very nice that you\u2019ve been shooting so many movies in Europe, even if you are not being convicted for rape in the U.S.,\u201d Lafitte said to gasps from the Cannes audience.<\/p>\n
Variety noted that the jab could have also been partly aimed at Jewish director Roman Polanski, who has narrowly avoided extradition from Europe to the U.S. over the years for rape charges dating back to 1977.<\/p>\n