Cate Blanchett Responds To Dylan Farrow’s Op-Ed About Alleged Woody Allen Sexual Abuse
The 'Blue Jasmine' star was publicly addressed in the 28-year-old's open letter in The New York Times.
Over the weekend, Dylan Farrow — the now 28-year-old adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen — penned a scathing op-ed in The New York Times, where she called out the Hollywood establishment for their unwavering support of the 78-year-old director, amid ongoing accusations of child molestation.
“What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me,” began the article, instantly making you reassess everything you loved about Manhattan (1979).
The piece drew varied responses: in a tweet, Lena Dunham urged her followers to read the article, calling it “courageous, powerful and generous”, while a small portion of Hollywood’s press pack and Allen’s own lawyer criticised Mia Farrow for recruiting her daughter into her own “carefully conducted campaign” against the director.
To share in this way is courageous, powerful and generous. Please read: http://t.co/RKKREFB8hM
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) February 1, 2014
The piece closed on a particularly striking note, though, where Farrow turned the spotlight on Allen’s most recent collaborators. “What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis CK? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?” wrote Farrow. “Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse.”
Overnight, while walking the red carpet at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Blanchett — who’s currently the favourite to take out the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Allen’s Blue Jasmine — became the first named celebrity to offer a statement addressing the pointed call-out.
“It’s obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some resolution and peace,” she said, which might be brief, but is probably the kinda response you’d expect to this sad situation during a red carpet ambush.
Meanwhile, Diane Keaton’s usually busy social media accounts remain conspicuously quiet, while Alec Baldwin fights the internet. In a frantic office in Hollywood, the Academy is sweating.