Comments

1
Plus, no one ever seems to mention that the loving, caring MIa Farrow obviously never ended her affair with Frank Sinatra, even after marrying Allen. The OBVIOUS result was Ronan Farrow.
2
Take this for what little it's worth. "Cool story bro" and all that. But:

As a small side-effect of having a few friends who happened to go to hoity-toity private schools back in Manhattan in the 70s and 80s, I know a small handful of people who were friends with several of the Allen/Farrow/Previn kids during their primary school years.

The consistent, uncoordinated take by all of those people is that they believe Allen clearly groomed Soon-Yi and probably also Dylan -- but also that Farrow was routinely an emotionally and physically abusive mother, and was especially so to her non-white adoptive kids, notably to poor Lark Previn.

Sometimes two horrible, horrible people fall deeply in an emotion that they refer to as "love" (but is not recognizable as such to any functioning human being) and take on the joint project of ruining the lives of a large number of children together.
3
I think it is entirely possible to believe both Moses and Dylan Farrow.
4
I'm a former child protection worker and currently a trauma therapist.

Anyone who works in this field knows a few things:

1. A sexual molestation claim, during the height of a custody battle, is HIGHLY suspicious. It happens often enough that seasoned workers will ask: Are you currently going through a divorce or custody issue?

2. 30 years of doing this work, I've come across 2 cases of molestation by a parent. In both cases, the parent had a history of molesting other children. Unfortunately, coaching children during acrimonious custody cases is quite common, and tragic.

3. Child protection workers do have bias... towards the alleged offender. In this case, there would be little celebration that there was zero evidence of molestation.

4. Childhood memories become more muddled, not clearer, over time. From a clinical perspective, Dylan's recent op-eds are less trustworthy than her multiple interviews with CPS. During that time, when her memory would be sharpest, the experts claimed:

* there were important inconsistencies
* she appeared to struggle about the touching
* she told the story that was overly thoughtful and controlling
* her descriptions of details were unusual and inconsistent.

Thus their conclusion:

"Our expert opinion that Dylan was not sexually abused by Mr. Allen."
5
Ms. Herzog, you state in your article, "...Although Dylan's claims were repeatedly investigated and found without merit..."." However, this is not entirely accurate. Per a 1993 article in The NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/25/nyregi…)

Connecticut Prosecutor Won't File Charges Against Woody Allen

Published: September 25, 1993

"A state's attorney in Connecticut said yesterday that he had "probable cause" to prosecute Woody Allen on charges that he sexually molested his adopted daughter, but had decided to spare her the trauma of a court appearance.

The state's attorney in Litchfield, Frank Maco, said he had drawn up an arrest warrant for Mr. Allen, but then decided not to pursue the case. He said the girl's mother, Mia Farrow, had agreed that dropping the charges was in her daughter's best interest."
6
Conflicting accounts from multiple aggrieved parties? I'm almost starting to feel like I can't pass a meaningful judgment from my seat in the peanut gallery. But, but... passing judgment on events that transpired in private thousands of miles away between celebrities who I've never met based only on the emotionally charged narratives I glean from the scandal-and-celebrity-obsessed press is my favorite thing! Don't ruin it.

Just tell me who is guilty so I may denounce them.
7
@6 we are.
8
Allen's highly unorthodox relationship with Soon Yi is often trotted out as evidence he had proclivities toward abuse. But they have now been married for 20 years. Twenty years.
Another odd aspect to this case is Ronan Farrow. Take a look at that guy and tell me- is his father Woody Allen or Frank Sinatra?
Of course it means nothing on its own, but we are forced to weigh the credibility of both Mia Farrow and Woody Allen in this matter.
9
I’m a fan of Allen’s work, so I admit I’m biased. But looking at the competing narratives as closely as I can, I believe Allen is innocent. Mia is too crazy. The whole story is fishy. Woody’s and Moses’s take just seems more credible. Though who really know.
11
17 is vastly different from 7. Also, offenders almost always offend numerous times. When one victim comes forward with a revelation, more almost always follow.
12
@10 #ramblingsofamadman
13
@10 Speaking of bat shit crazy...
14
Want the full scoop on this? See below. Every actor who is currently bailing on Allen is trying to look good in the face of #metoo. There's no new evidence. Allen is still almost certainly innocent.

https://ronanfarrowletter.wordpress.com/…
15
@12, 13: it's an illuminating window into the soul of the conservative male.

I wish you'd use more paragraph breaks, though, RO. makes it easier to read.
16
I would leave a child alone with neither Woody Allen nor Mia Farrow.
18
1) @16, I agree, as it can be both true that Mia was a "crazy" and a psychological and/or physically abusive parent AND Woody sexually abused Dylan, his adoptive daughter.

2) How would Moses "know" whether or not Dylan had been sexually abused...by anyone? Sexual abuse most often occurs in secrecy. Victims are manipulated and coerced into not disclosing the abuse. Moses' experiences of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Mia likely emotionally insulated him from any sexual abuse a sibling could have experience at the hands of the the parent who was not abusing him. Anyway, how can anyone prove a negative? Just because he had never witnessed it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Was Moses attached to Dylan 24/7 and therefore a witness to every moment of her young life?

3) Yes, Woody has been married to Soon Yi for over 20 yrs. However, that has nothing to do with whether he abused Dylan.
19
Thank you for giving this situation the coverage it deserves.

It has troubled me for years how people feel comfortable casually leveling such a serious accusation without looking at the facts available. (How dare Woody Allen be concerned about a witch hunt?)

Why does everyone ignore Moses' and Soon-Yi's allegations of abuse against Mia?

What do these people think about Mia's Valentine's Day card?

Why on earth do celebrities feel compelled to give their "take" on this situation on a public stage?

Why did Lindy write an opinion piece reinforcing the uninformed view?

The only conclusion I can reach is people get there out of self-interest, lazy thinking, and envy. (This has largely been covered by a group of media reporters whose work will never get the attention Woody Allen's has.)
20
@19: oh, god. the "they just jealous" defense.

myself, I don't know what to believe. there's no way to objectively learn the truth of it, either.
21
As a progressive, I have found it indimidating to be the one voice amongst my peers going "Hang on a second" when Dylan's accusations and demands against Woody Allen resurface.

I believe that Woody Allen is a creep, but evidence for him being upgraded to child molester is lacking, and in fact contraindicated. And sexual attraction to teenage girls post-pubescence is a very different pathology than paedophilia. Add this to the fact that their have never been other allegations, when this is never a one-off crime, and one must not dismiss the heavy collection of material evidence that goes against the narrative of Dylan, Ronan, and Mia, which looks to be as unhealthy a triad as any other relationship in this story. I believe Dylan believes her story, having repeated it and been groomed to it from such a young age and for so long, and that makes calling it out even more difficult.

Thanks for being bold enough to bring up what seems to be too unpopular to point out.
22
Since when did The Stranger become the National Enquirer? What's next - an article on how Debbie Reynolds went to her grave hating Liz Taylor, or how Dinah Shore wanted to give Burt Reynolds a baby?
23
Wow - a really bad article!
24
Eric Lax and Robert Weide? Really? I can't think of two men who are closer and more unquestioningly devoted to Woody Allen. They will only ever take his side and fight his battles, and have done for years.

There's no way Moses could know what happened to his sister in private with Woody Allen. It's highly irresponsible of him to say that he does know, when he couldn't possibly. Very poor ethics.
25
Also, as a journalist, isn't there any way possible you could have reached out to Dylan's other brothers, Matthew, Sascha, Isaiah, or Fletcher, to listen to their opinion about what happened to their sister? We know what Ronan believes. Moses abandoned his own wife and children and cut himself off from all his brothers and sisters except one (Soon Yi) to cozy up to Woody Allen. And while you were gathering information, you could have spoken to Dylan's sisters, Daisy, Quincy, and Minh. Instead of just accepting what Woody Allen's fiercest supporters would have you believe.
26
Mia Farrow has 14 children. Of the 10 who were adopted, 3 are dead and 2 have been disowned. Of the 3 dead, at least 1 was estranged from her mother for years. Farrow's eldest daughter, Lark, who died of AIDS, struggled to raise two HIV-positive children alone for years, with no help from her mother (and presumably, Andre Previn). She and her younger sister both had behavioral issues as adolescents: shoplifting, drugs, and unplanned pregnancy. Another daughter from post-Allen adoptions died of heart disease in her teens. A son, also a post-Allen adoptee, shot himself shortly after moving or being kicked out of her home.

Like an earlier poster, I know something about the Farrow household (Allen never lived with her) due to the small world of Manhattan rich kids, though from the service side of things. A colleague who worked there described the Farrow apartment as "a sty," not fit for children to live in. "You know cat ladies? She's that, except with children," he said. The person described the Previn children as gifted but out of control; one had behavioral problems severe enough to merit expulsion from multiple tony prep schools. My colleague was in Farrow's employ well before the accusation and the custody battle. I believe there were only 5–7 kids at that point.

Mia Farrow sounds less like a parent and more like a hoarder of children. And her adopted kids seem to be always on shakier ground. The way she talks about the children she cuts off is pretty shocking. Same goes for Andre Previn. Other parents struggle to do right children who've murdered people, yet Soon-Yi "doesn't exist for me" because she stole mom's boyfriend? And if Farrow truly believed Allen molested their daughter, why wouldn't she be TERRIFIED for Soon-Yi? Why wouldn't she keep a door open so Soon-Yi could eventually escape an abusive relationship with a monster? Instead, Farrow cut her off absolutely. And whenever she and Dylan revive the accusation, there never seems to be a component of fear and longing for the two daughters Soon-Yi is now raising with Allen.

It's a curious thing: People seem to utterly ignore Soon-Yi's agency in this matter, which smacks more than a little of racism—as though she has no volition of her own. I would guess that she's as strong-willed as her mother, in actuality. Oethaps she understood how screwed up her home life was, more so than her siblings. Moses Farrow says Allen was the opposite of Farrow, orderly and kind. To a young woman raised in a chaotic, dirty home with an ever-expanding cast of children and a revolving door for hired help (like my friend), that must have been attractive. And if there was an element of "Fuck you" to a mother that was abusive and clearly cared more about her bio kids than the adoptees, that's sad, but not a tragedy.
28
if i was an inverstigating journalist i will look in few places starting with the much repeated, but rarely considered fact of why the Yale team indeed destroyed their notes. They were ordered to investigate by the Connecticut police and had neither an obligation or desire to defend Woody Allen who despite the cries of the Farrows was an independent NY movie director and not the man of staggering power they like to present him like.
Why would The Yale team will do two things, destroy their notes thus risk a slap on the hands( which they did receiveby the judge for exceeding their territory) with a carefully worded advice for Mia Farrow to enter therapy. Why would destroy their notes unless there was something they would not have out? Protect WA? No way. How about not willing to show what Dylan told them of the household she was raised in considering that she was 7 and kids this age can and will talk for stuff they see. And on that base they not only absolved Allen, but also went in a dangerous recommendation beyond the matter
they were hired for as they couldn’t not tell more for some reasons.

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