Woody Allen slaps back at cancel culture as filmmaker issues blunt response to if he feels cancelled
Woody Allen has spoken out on cancel culture
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American filmmaker Woody Allen has pulled no punches when put on the spot about cancel culture.
The Oscar-winning actor and writer has found himself at the centre of a controversial case in recent years with adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow after she alleged he molested her when she was a child.
Farrow claimed the alleged incident occurred when she was seven years old and first went public with the allegations in 1992.
The 38-year-old has since reiterated the allegations in a 2014 New York Times open letter, a Los Angeles Times piece in 2016, and again a sit down interview with CBS in 2018.
Farrow also took part in the 2021 docuseries Allen v. Farrow in which she once again repeated the claims of sexual abuse.
However, no charges have been brought against Allen and two "major bodies" investigated the claims, Allen said.
Woody Allen faced sexual assault allegations from Dylan Farrow
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Over three decades on from the first allegation, Allen has debuted his 50th film for audiences at the Venice Film Festival.
The film, titled Coup de Chance, received a five-minute standing ovation after its first screening at the event.
Hours before, Allen spoke to Variety about the film, the allegations, and whether cancel culture exists and has taken hold of him in recent years.
"I feel if you’re going to be canceled, this is the culture to be canceled by," he told Variety. "I just find that all so silly. I don’t think about it."
Dismissing the movement further, Allen continued: "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 movies.
"What has changed is the presentation of the films. You know, I work and it’s the same routine for me.
"I write the script, raise the money, make the film, shoot it, edit it, it comes out.
"The difference is not from cancel culture. The difference is the way they present the films. It’s that that’s the big change."
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Woody Allen has won four Oscars
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Elsewhere, Allen addressed Farrow's allegations and suggested the publicity that continues to surround it all stems from people "liking the idea it lingers on" despite no charges being brought against him.
He hasn't seen Farrow or her brother since but admits he is "willing to" reconnect.
Farrow currently works as a writer in the USA and serves as an activist for survivors of sexual assault.