Ronan Farrow Slams Media’s Refusal to Ask Hard Questions of Father Woody Allen

Two years ago, Dylan Farrow published an open letter detailing her accusations that her father Woody Allen sexually assaulted her when she was seven years old. Now, frustrated by what he sees as the continued positive coverage of Allen, Dylan’s brother Ronan Farrow has written his own essay on the matter, accusing the media of remaining silent.

Farrow took aim not only at reporters who fail to ask Allen and those who work with him about the accusations, but also the entities that support him, like Amazon (which has bankrolled a movie and TV series for the director). Allen took some heat in the press earlier this month when in a cover story for the Hollywood Reporter he detailed how he has provided wife Soon-Yi Previn with “enormous opportunities,” a statement that rubbed some the wrong way. But Farrow points out in his piece for the same outlet that the Q&A didn’t include any questions about the Dylan accusations. “To me it is a sterling example of how not to talk about sexual assault,” he writes. “That kind of silence isn’t just wrong. It’s dangerous. It sends a message to victims that it’s not worth the anguish of coming forward. It sends a message about who we are as a society, what we’ll overlook, who we’ll ignore, who matters and who doesn’t.”

On Wednesday night, Allen’s film Café Society will open the Cannes Film Festival, but Farrow says Allen and his stars “can trust that the press won’t ask them the tough questions. It’s not the time, it’s not the place, it’s just not done.”

Charges were not pursued against Allen and he has consistently denied wrongdoing.

[The Hollywood Reporter]