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Hollywood is no stranger to instances of sexual assault and molestation. Some people consider it a safe haven for abusers and rapists – at least it used to be.
In the last few months, prominent women have come forward about their experiences with predators in the industry. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have exposed bigwigs like Harvey Weinstein and James Toback for the opportunists and abusers that they are. Recently, Dylan Farrow has opened up again and discussed details about the assault she experienced with adoptive father Woody Allen.
Dylan Farrow sat down with Gayle King for “CBS This Morning” last week. During the interview, which was the first time Farrow has spoken about her experiences on national television, Farrow revealed details about the assault she experienced from Woody Allen when she was barely 7 years old.
According to Dylan, the family was at Mia Farrow’s Connecticut country home. Allen took her into an attic and was instructed to play with her brother’s train set. There he molested her:
“I was taken to a small attic crawl space in my mother’s country house in Connecticut by my father. He instructed me to lay down on my stomach and play with my brother’s toy train that was set up. As I played with the toy train, I was sexually assaulted … As a seven-year-old, I would say, I would have said he touched my private parts.”
When the allegations were made in 1992, Allen denied all the charges. More than two decades ago, Mia Farrow and Woody Allen were amidst a terrible break-up. Allen has accused Farrow of coaching Dylan to accuse him of sexual molestation.
“When this claim was first made more than 25 years ago, it was thoroughly investigated by both the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare. They both did so for many months and independently concluded that no molestation had ever taken place. Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup.”
Allen was never charged with any wrongdoing. During the investigation, Frank Maco, the Connecticut prosecutor assigned to the case, has previously explained that there was probable cause to charge the director. At the time, he deemed Dylan Farrow to not be emotionally stable enough to undergo a celebrity trial. CBS reached out to Maco. In his statement, he reiterated how his investigation showed no manipulation by Mia Farrow.
In the same interview, Dylan has revealed that she feels regret for not filing charges in 1992. She explains that she was already traumatized – it would have been better if she received the justice she deserves:
“You know, honestly yes. I do wish that they had, you know, even if I’m just speaking in retrospect. I was already traumatized. … Here’s the thing. I mean, outside of a court of law, we do know what happened in the attic on that day. I just told you.”
