American actor and filmmaker, Woody Allenis as praised as it is controversial.
Earlier this week, the 87-year-old Oscar winner received a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival for his 50th film, Coup de Chance.
He has overcome allegations of sexual abuse against his adopted daughter. Dylan Farrowwho alleged that Allen inappropriately touched her in August 1992, when she was seven.
But the actor has disparaged cancel culture in the US, and as he walked the red carpet in Venice, his wife, Soon Yi-Previn, another of his biggest controversies, held his hand.
The claim comes as Previn, 52, is the adopted daughter of Allen’s ex-partner, Mia Farrow.
Woody Allen (pictured left), 87, married his ex-partner’s adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, 52, (pictured right), the couple photographed here in 1999
At the age of six, Soon-Yi was adopted from Korea by Mia Farrow and her then-husband Andre Previn.
Allen first met Soon-Yi Previn when she was about eleven years old, while he was dating Mia Farrow.
By the time Previn was 21, an intimate relationship had developed between the two.
The affair with Previn began in December 1991, the same month that Allen adopted Mia Farrow’s sons Dylan and Moses Farrow. The New York Times.
It is claimed that Korean-born Previn bonded with Allen during her senior year of high school when she told him she wanted to be a model.
Allen arranged for her photos to be taken and advised her on how to dress.
After spending more time together, the couple’s relationship grew stronger Vanity fair.
So much so that Farrow found nude Polaroid photos of her adopted daughter in Allen’s house in January 1992, when they were still together.
The affair lasted until August.
Woody and Soon-Yin have a 35 year age difference and were introduced when Soon-Yin was about 11 years old
Mia Farrow, Woody’s ex-partner and mother figure to Soon-Yi, discovered the affair by finding naked Polaroids of Soon-Yi in Woody’s apartment
Farrow resorted to hiring a child psychologist for advice; she described her former lover as “satanic and evil” and begged to “find a way to stop him,” according to the New York Times.
The same month, Dylan Farrow alleged that Allen sexually assaulted her on CBS This Morning, who was seven at the time.
Dylan alleged that Allen inappropriately touched her in August 1992, when she was seven.
She said he abused her in an attic of the Connecticut home where she lived with her mother Mia Farrow and siblings, touching her while she played with a toy train.
But a spark remained between Allen and Previn during the child molestation allegations, and Previn has maintained Allen is innocent.
The relationship continued and in 1997 Allen and Previn married in Venice. They have since adopted two children: Bechet and Manzie.
Dylan’s sexual abuse allegations were investigated and no charges were ever filed.
Ronan Farrow, Dylan’s journalist brother, wrote about it in 2016 and condemned Hollywood for continuing to work with their father.
Soon-Yi continued to support Woody amid allegations of sexual abuse against his child, Dylan Farrow, claiming that Allen touched her inappropriately in August 1992.
However, their brother Moses Farrow has consistently defended their father, accusing Mia Farrow of coaching Dylan to accuse Woody out of anger over their divorce.
During this time, Allen’s relationship with Previn continued.
Allen has remained relatively quiet when it comes to his relationship with Previn, but in March 2021, he commented on the marriage in conversation with Lee Cowan on CBS Sunday Morning.
He was asked if he ever thought a relationship with his girlfriend’s adopted daughter was inappropriate.
Allen said ‘no’ and added: ‘There wasn’t a moment when it wasn’t the most normal thing in the world… it didn’t give me pause because the relationship with Soon-Yi was very gradual. It wasn’t like I went out with her one night and kissed her.
“I would say that of the many women I’ve had relationships with in my life, many women, they were all what the appropriate police would call appropriate: appropriate for their age,” he said. “Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Louise Lasser, my first wife; to Soon-Yi, which is unusual for me.”
Woody called his relationship with his ex-partner’s child ‘the most normal thing in the world’
Allen added, “If you had told me that I would end up married and happily married to an Asian woman much younger than me, not in show business, I would have said, ‘the chances of that are very slim.’ I don’t think you’ll be right.’ But that’s what happened.’
Despite the string of controversies, Allen last week dismissed the idea of “cancelled,” calling the concept “silly.”
“I think if you get canceled, this is the culture that needs to be canceled,” he said Variety.
‘I think it’s all so stupid. I don’t think about it. I don’t know what it means to be canceled. I know that over the years everything has been the same for me. I make my films.
‘What has changed is the presentation of the films. You know, I work and for me it’s the same routine. I write the script, raise the money, make the film, shoot it, edit it and it comes out. The difference is not in the cancel culture. The difference is in the way they present the films. That’s the big change.’
Allen also said some of the effects of the #MeToo movement were “stupid.”
“I think any movement that actually benefits, where it does something positive, for example for women, is a good thing,” he said.
‘If it becomes foolish, it is foolish. I have read examples where it was very useful, where the situation was very favorable for women, and that is good.
When Woody arrived at the Venice Film Festival earlier this week, clashes broke out as protesters chanted “no rape culture.”
‘If I read some examples in a newspaper article where it is foolish, then it is foolish.’
When asked what he meant by “foolish,” Allen replied, “It’s foolish, you know, when it’s not really a feminist issue or an issue of unfairness to women.” If it’s too extreme to make an issue of it, when in fact most people wouldn’t consider it an offensive situation.”
Earlier this week, Allen attended the Venice Film Festival for the premiere of his new film, Coup de Chance (“Stroke of Luck”).
Before the premiere, Allen told a press conference that he felt he had had a very happy life and that he was fortunate to be healthy and able to continue making films.
The outing comes shortly after he said he is “always willing” to meet his estranged daughter Dylan, while again denying her claims that he sexually assaulted her.
But their arrival on the red carpet was greeted with boos from the crowd ahead of the Prime Minister.
Clashes broke out as protesters chanted “no rape culture” at Allen outside the Venice film festival, the same city where he married Previn, who is 35 years his junior, in 1997.
Despite Allen’s icy reception outside, reporters reportedly gave him a standing ovation when he entered the room at a press conference.
The film is unlikely to be shown in the US after Hollywood cut ties with it over sexual abuse allegations.
But in Europe he is still working and received a three-minute standing ovation for his new French-language film on Monday evening.