A few years ago, when Dylan Farrow wrote about Woody Allen and everyone was talking about whether Woody has been a child molester this entire time, Susan Sarandon spoke up. Sarandon has never worked with Woody, but she knows a lot of people in the industry (obviously) and she had heard the rumors too. When asked about her self-described “issues” with Woody, Sarandon told the Daily Beast in 2014:
“I think he really tore that family apart in a way that was horrible, and hasn’t really dealt with the aftermath. He’s always had a reputation for being with younger girls—I mean younger girls. And also, that young woman [Soon-Yi] was very vulnerable, and I think it was very hard for the siblings, and certainly for Mia. You just don’t go there. You don’t go there.”
So, Susan is currently at Cannes, likely to fulfill her L’Oreal contract. She even attended the opening night premiere of Woody Allen’s Café Society. And finally, someone asked her what she currently thinks of Woody.
Susan Sarandon isn’t holding back when it comes to talking about Woody Allen at the Cannes Film Festival.
“I think he sexually assaulted a child and I don’t think that’s right,” the actress said during Variety and Kering’s Women in Motion talk, alongside her Thelma & Louise costar Geena Davis. “I have nothing good to say about him,” she added. “I don’t want to go there.”
Yes. What else is there to say? Many (most) people believe that Woody Allen molested Dylan. Some don’t believe it, or they don’t believe that he should be “punished” for something that happened decades ago. Sarandon has always been pretty clear about where she stands. Maybe she needs to sit down with Blake Lively for a conversation.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Well that was refreshing. Wish more celebs would speak up about it.
Yes, it was refreshing. Her 2014 statement was right on the money; you don’t marry the step-child you helped raise.
ITA! Although I am worried that her role in Pretty Baby is going to be used to discredit and troll her.
What’s worse is that Allen was allowed to adopt with Soon-Yi, even after he showed the world that he doesn’t consider non-biological children to be “his.” But I guess if you have the money, you can buy whatever you want, even children.
Yep. Right on the money. She didn’t go on and on; she said it pretty succinctly and hit the mark.
Thank you, thank you, thank you Susan for stepping up and speaking out loud what just about everybody on the planet thinks.
Susan is a wonderful human being.
Yay. Clear and to the point. Thanks, Susan.
Bravo Susan, only celebrity I know that has totally called him out on it. I love the fact she says what she means and doesn’t dance around it.
Supposedly she was asked what she thought of his comments about storylines of younger men and mature women, and she went for it.
Yeah, it’s disturbing. I’m thinking hard and I don’t know any other celeb who has spoken out about him in a serious way.
She’s one of the few people that have addressed this more than once and frankly too
Lena Dunham also spoke up and supported Dylan.
“The Sister Fister” doesn’t really count, though.
It’s nice to see a celebrity calling him out instead of falling all over themselves to praise him. He already has too many defenders both inside an outside of Hollywood.
+1000
I’ve always liked her. Go Susan!!
My husband met her in real life! His one celebrity encounter! I’ve been waiting for a post about her hahahaha! Apparently she was really, really nice. So I’ve always liked her.
This is just one more reason to like her. BRAVO! Standing up to the Goliath that is Woody and his terrible supporters. And she walks the walk by not working with him.
YOU ARE AWESOME SUSAN!
Yes yes he’s to Susan. Yes.
iPhone “corrected” my post.
Could this please be the start of more actors and actresses speaking out against him? Please?
Fingers crossed!! This is still huge, even if nobody else stands up at Cannes though. This will be the legacy of Woodys movie. The Farrows must be elated!
I would hope Blake and Kristen are realising that they will be caught on the wrong side of history for this one but I doubt they care.
And Steve Carrell and Jesse Eisenberg and Colin Firth…
It’s not just the women y’know. The gents need to start defending their sisters.
It certainly feels like a tipping point, doesn’t it? Let’s keep this ball rolling, Hollywood!
Yes! @tealily, exactly. Keep the ball rolling, Hollywood! Fight the good fight. We believe you Dylan.
About damn time someone had the courage to call him what he is.
I read that someone first asked her thoughts regarding his comments about younger men/older women storylines.
Regardless of what prompted her comments, good for her.
Never, ever understood his appeal in any way, shape or form.
True. It was what prompted her ‘I have nothing good to say…’ line.
I think she’s a great actress, and her activism veers a little into zealotry at times, but for the most part, she’s actually pretty spot on. I admire her entry into the ZFC.
Actually, she’s so outspoken I might have assumed she started talking about him without any prompting.
Yeah, and she can sometimes step in it with her comments, but that’s just what happens when you aren’t afraid to speak your mind. I appreciate the fact that she hasn’t been deterred from speaking out.
Brava to Susan for speaking the truth.
She has made some comments that maybe weren’t so well thought out. I respect her for speaking her mind. Goodness knows I’ve put my foot in it with the best intentions, and my words aren’t going into print.
Finally someone who calls him out!! Go Susan!!
Yeah! It was damn time for someone to do it! I hope this triggers others to speak about it and the general public to know how awful this pervert is
Hope so!!
I think he did too. I believe Dylan. Kudos to Susan for speaking out again Woody Allen. She has a lot of respect in Hollywood. I hope the tide is turning against Allen.
I hope the tide is turning, too. I think she does have a lot of respect, so she doesn’t have as much to lose as some other younger actors might unfortunately feel they do.
Succinct and to the point. Exactly.
Hell Yeah!! Love that she didn’t give some vague bs answer. Told it like it is!
Love her!!! Some moxy for once!
I love Susan. I respect her politics and her integrity. She’s a refreshing change. Because she’s talented, I think she’s unafraid to speak the truth like Lively et al.
+ 1
WOW. Amazing that she had the courage to say all of that. With all the coverage of Blake Lively’s ignorance last week, i was starting to try and make a list of prominent people who have spoken against Woody Allen or at least refused to work with him. Nice to know there’s at least one person.
I do wonder who HAS turned down roles with him. I suppose there’s not really any way we could know, unless they speak about it.
Okay, I have never like Sarandon much, but yay for her for speaking out against this horrible, disgusting child molester.
Me too. I was never a fan, but she’s just gone up about 1000 notches in my book. I have nothing but respect for her now. Good for her!
This. Finally a member of Hollywood taking a DEFINITIVE stand. A voice! Bravo Susan!
Hallelujah! Finally a celebrity who is adult enough to speak about this openly, clearly and succinctly. She has said all that needs to be said. Others should take note and follow suit!
Good for her. Glad someone has the guts to say something.
Good for Susan S for being brave enough to speak out about this! Wish more celebs would do the same. WA is disgusting.
Wow, good for her, refreshing and brave, loud clap!
Here’s hoping that her peers follow in her footsteps .
Wow! It has been a long time coming but could this be the beginning of the end for Allen?
We can hope. I think this is why is important that this subject is brought up in every event he attends…
It’s doubtful. Woody and his machine are pretty smart about casting young, hot, A-list actresses in his movies like Scarlet Johansson. WA and his current movie may still get a lot of acceptance because of the the Kristen Stewart popularity with young female /Twilight fans. And Blake Lively’s popularity for being married to a popular Marvel leading man and because of our Kardashian, surreal ‘Reality-culture’. Many young people think the WA scandals are just like Reality show drama – either totally unreal or at the very least insignificant and not ‘popular’ enough to care or take a stand on.
Hopefully what Ronan has done will continue to keep this at the forefront of popular discussion at least enough so that Hollywood will stop giving WA so much critical acclaim and Oscar nominations every year. Talk about Hollywood/Oscars being a “locked up” deal. WA is a perfect example of this greedy, fraternity-like system.
Thank f*ck somebody in Holkyweird has the balls to tell it like it is. Onya Susan – I’ve always loved you and now I love you more.
And I’ve always disliked Blake and now I dislike her more.
Finally. I am filled with admiration for her. A person with actual convictions in Hollywood. Who would have guessed? I only hope others follow suit, and finally speak the truth.
So true. We need more people like Susan in Hollywood. Especially speaking out on things like this.
Always loved Susan so this just makes me love her more.
But why did she go to the premiere? Isn’t that pseudo supporting him?
Yes, that is what I was wondering
His film opened the festival. The opening is a big deal, it would be part of her L’Oreal contract to attend.
If she is so full of courage maybe she should refuse to go to that, no? How can we say that actors shouldn’t work with him and then make a pass to her?
But it turned out for the best because she had the guts to make that comment in that context.
She’s firmly planting that asterisk on his name. I’d love to see an asterisk on her name too, for fking fearless.
Cool. Sadly, no one will listen to her because she is a woman, an activist and a known feminist. Dylan will have to wait for her Hannibal Buress counterpart, someone like John Oliver, to get the ball rolling.
A “known feminist!” It sounds so sordid!
And even if say, John Oliver, goes after him, a lot of people still won’t believe it unless Allen admits it himself. Cosby’s victims piled up and the man STILL had defenders.
I hope Meryl Streep speaks out. And then Helen Mirren, followed by Judy Dench, followed by Angela Davis, etc. I want the heavy hitting actresses to really go after him. It would be hard for him to stand up to such respected women.
Agreed. This needs to be what the Keisha thing became – women in the industry, at the very top, making it clear that they were just done with this shit.
It’s not going to happen. Again, while I believe he is guilty, he was never convicted, nor brought to trial. And many people think it’s all muddied and that you can’t be sure one way or the other. CBers on here don’t want to hear that, but it’s the truth, that not everyone is on the Woody molested Dylan bandwagon. Go look at The Washington Times and their latest article. Tons of posters are of the position no one knows what happened and the charges were dropped, etc.
It’s great what Susan said, but it affects nothing except to at least have a celeb who believes he is a child molester not stay quiet and say something on the record. I’m sure there are others who believe it that aren’t saying anything, but to believe that all the top actresses automatically believe he did is a wrong assumption..
What Susan said doesn’t really affect Woody. What it does is give Dylan validation that must mean the world to her after all the crickets.
@Jayna,
I think it’s not so much that enough people still believe he’s innocent like people who post on Washington Times. It’s that he’s protected and supported by very powerful Hollywood insiders/investors that have a very large steak in his career. They support him by propping him up and idolizing him as a great artist. I don’t mind giving credit where credit is due, but HW has definitely gone to bat for Woody and paint him (albeit indirectly in recent times) with as many accolades as possible. HW has counted on the fact that there’s no conviction, the passing of time and the success of his “acclaimed” films to validate their continued support of WA.
All of this helps sway many to not question the issue and just be entertained cause if there was really a crime he’d have been put in jail cause our justice system works so well especially on the rich and powerful.
I’ve never liked his movies with the exception of Blue Jasmine and Midnight in Paris, and still I wouldn’t say I loved them. BJ and K Blanchette’s performance was worthy of critical praise. And although some might enjoy his films, I still think he’s been long overrated by mostly men, HW insiders and kiss-up critics.
I’m not saying people can’t like his work or the actors in his films, but it’s very disturbing the lack of critical social analysis of much of his previous films and disgusting how he’s protected by the greedy HW system.
“I think he sexually assaulted a child”
So perfect. There’s really nothing else that should be added to that. This simple statement is all there has to be known about Woody Allen.
It’s so refreshing compared to the usual “well, we don’t really know what happened…” bullsh-t. Yeah. Okay. We don’t *know* but I’m pretty sure we have a good idea of what happened. Now we know what Susan thinks!
I just don’t understand how a whole family can come after a man, calling him a pedo, having several public instruments that prove Allen is a man of questionable tendencies, and then still go around saying we don’t know anything for sure and that “he’s innocent until proven guilty”. Dylan’s not a Kardashian selling stories to People. She’s his own daughter.
Exactly. It’s willful ignorance at this point, from people who don’t want to think about it too much and probably see money to be had.
Survivors of abuse get this kind of treatment all the time … apparently outsiders somehow have a better grasp of family dynamics than * people who actually lived through them.* It’s like society as a whole is gaslighting the victims (who are much more often women and girls).
To the Woody Allen apologists (thankfully thin on the ground on Celebitchy) who believe in separating the ‘art from the artist’ – let me examine that concept for a quick minute. What if Woody was a famous painter, and we we had proof he was attracted to VERY young girls, and was accused of sexually abusing his own daughter, then later to marry his teenage defacto-step daughter. Would we still anticipate his new ‘paintings’ featuring relationships between older men and very young women? Would the world turn out at premiers of his paintings that made reference to incest, pedophilia, and ‘messy’ family situations in a light hearted manner? Would people buy prints of these paintings, hang them in their home, and gloss over it all – because they were ‘separating the art’ from the artist?
Good point! Though, to be frank, people tend to do just that with prints and paintings with a dark history behind them. If it’s colorful and covered in gold foil – it’s good for decorating, end of story. 🙁
I would rather stick needles in my eyes than watch an Allen film (although full disclosure I never did before all this came out, that whole neurotic nebbish dweeb who somehow is paired with a gorgeous, usually younger woman, theme he has NEVER veered from never did appeal) but art galleries around the world are filled with the art of people who committed criminal and exploitative acts. I don’t think many people view those pieces and discuss the artists sins at all.
“that whole neurotic nebbish dweeb who somehow is paired with a gorgeous, usually younger woman, theme he has NEVER veered from never did appeal”
+1000
THIS !
Separating the Artist from the art is definitely problematic and very subjective. But one of my complaints is that WA is soo overrated and mostly because of the prophet returns to his circle of Hollywood investors/financiers of his movies.
MY PEOPLE! His films have never been my bag, and certainly don’t deserve the justification in my eyes. I find him and his films incredibly irritating, rape and incest accusations aside.
correction:
That was supposed to be “profit” Not prophet. haha
I don’t think Allen should be making any more movies because, as a sexual offender, he should be behind bars. But I don’t think liking his movies and being excited for Café Society makes you an abuse apologist. What makes you an abuse apologist is making excuses for him. I don’t think liking his movies and thinking he should be held accountable for his crimes are mutually exclusive.
Sean Penn is an idiot and a mysoginist and I think he should be held accountable for this. But I’ll watch his movies because he’s a good actor. And if he goes to jail for whatever crime he might commit (or has commited), I won’t object it one bit. Because being talented doesn’t make you any less of a criminal.
I agree with you. I still wouldn’t watch a Woody Allen movie though.
Your stance has some philosophical merit, except when supporting the art you support the artist. At this point I would say after the man is dead, a retrospective might be in order. But at the moment he is still living and basking in the glory of art and celebrity without shame, while the victim suffers.
So no. I don’t think going to see his movies or supporting his art is appropriate. Not when something as heinous as the sexual assault of children is involved. I love Roman Polanski’s films. But as long as the man lives and breaths I do not need to support his films.
And Jodie Foster can go pound sand too.
Tired of that woman sticking up for abusers in the name of “art”. Pathetic
When I was a young actress she was my hero.
Sad.
@SJO
But supporting the artist doesn’t mean you support his crimes. People are three dimensional. I adore my brother and support him – but I don’t approve of his reckless driving. Should I stop talking to my brother until he starts driving properly?
I just want to make clear I don’t defend the silence and protection from Hollywood AT ALL. I just think the average ticket-buyer who likes Woody Allen’s films shouldn’t be treated as a an abuse accomplice.
Supporting his work means you are giving money to finance his lifestyle – yes so he can hire that high power PR system to smear the Farrows. So nope no money from me. I boycott this pervert as well as Tommy Cruise.
He gets a piece of the box office, so yes, watching his movies supports him, literally AND figuratively.
Agree Josefina, 100%. People here should not be so one-dimensional, nor should they reduce others to one dimension. He is a horrible person if he abused his adopted daughter and, for those who believe in hell, he will surely rot there. But his films, like all art, are commentaries on human social living. And we are its impetus, its muse, and, ultimately, its consumers.
It’s interesting where people draw the line. I wonder if the people who boycott Allen’s films also boycott films made by Fox Searchlight because the Fox network has been so active in promoting wars, perpetuating inequality and stalling action on climate change.
@Dangles
I think, going by this logic, I could bet a solid 80% of the people in this forum actively support child labor and contractual slavery based on the products they buy.
If you don’t want to watch his movies because of this, that’s your choice. But I think it’s wrong to call someone a pedophilia apologist because (s)he decided to watch a movie.
Wow, Baby Jane – “… films, like all art, are commentaries on human social living. And we are its impetus, its muse, and, ultimately, its consumers”
Who are you? That is incredible; I just learned something that will make think for a long time. You are the opposite of a troll. We need a word for that.
Also if you want to call me out for a comment on another article, do so there. But yes, the creation and the creator are not one in the same.
I like his new films and they aren’t about teenagers dating adults, child molestation, or anyone dating a step dad or uncle, etc. sometimes he pairs A 20 something with a 40 something
And yeah if an artist was a known paedophile and sold paintings of young children I would not be interested in his paintings .
I watch foreign film sometimes, but I find Hollywood to be really lacking so I don’t want to give up watching Woody Allen movies . By the way I’ve heard that some of his old stuff has a teenager dating an older guy or something but I haven’t seen his old stuff actually .
Woody Allen is Hollywood. His movies may not be financed by the big studios, but he has a lot of insider, Hollywood investors that have supported him throughout the decades because his movies are very cheap to make and they get a guaranteed prophet return because he is established name in the biz.
I’m not saying WA movies don’t have any merit, especially the more recent ones that have upped the anti with big, A-list stars. But WA has been very overrated for years. Furthermore he’s idolized as this great artist, but really it’s more about the efficiency and turn-out of product each year at a very low cost since he both writes and directs his films.
And as far as his movies not having “teenagers dating adults and child molestation . . .”
Well again his films have always had right “on-the-line” questionably inappropriate relationships between young (several very young) women and older men. That’s kind of what he’s known for, and no surprise many so called “intellectual” men have always found this tantalizing and support it as great art and therefore supported him as a great artist.
But it will take a male celebrity to call Allen publicly out to bring the real conversation. Just like with Cosby.
By the way where are the usual activists like Jolie, Pitt and Clooney in this debate?
Well, none of them have ever worked with him, so hopefully they think he’s a perve too.
Agreed. The fact that they’ve never worked with him says a lot actually.
People have been saying that about Cosby, and at first I agreed. But the more I think about it, do you think that maybe the reason it wasn’t a “big deal” is because when the women were being vocal about it was a time before the rise of social media? Even after that comedian talked about Cosby, mainstream media ignored into until it was so big on social media that they couldn’t anymore.
I definitely think the outrage in social media was what ruined Cosby, and not Buress. I think it’s safe to say most of the people going at Cosby only learned of this joke through blogs like this or twitter. Buress lit a match and social media turned it into a pyre.
Isn’t that the sad truth? Until a big-time male celeb speaks out this won’t gain enough traction. Hopefully Susan’s comments will spark that.
Tell it, Susan.
Bravo, she minced no words.
Respect. Susan is OG
Hooray for she. Gutsy, brave, honest. By the way, its crap Allen doesn’t follow the hype. His denial speaks volumes. He’s obsessed with the gossip rags. This IS touching him. The man is a walking neurotic set of symptoms. Paranoia, to the extreme is bound to be churning. Festering, me hopes.
This is huge! I remember that after the scandal, Mia did a movie called Widow’s Peak and Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson starred with her. I believe they were the only stars to give her support after the molestation thing came out. Liam also worked with Woody, but I don’t recall him saying anything about Woody. He should speak out now!
He was in Husbands and Wives, the film that was in progress at the time all of this broke out regarding Soon-Yi, so he would have been very much in the middle of things. I hope he does speak up.
He gave an interview a few years ago……where he said he and the other actress (IDK who was in the movie with him) were waiting to start a scene when Woody got a call from his lawyer–that was when Mia had found the pictures of Soon Yi in his apartment……he said they waited for hours, and then Woody just came back and they started. Didn’t say a word.
Funny how after her public statements Woody never sued her. Possibly because truth is a defense?
I think that tells us everything we need to know about WA.
I think his own statements are all we need. A loving father wouldn’t be so indifferent about his own daughter accusing him of sexual abuse.
It’s both.
Because you sue and you end up being deposed and on the stand. I doubt he wants that.
Good for Susan and Gina for not allowing themselves to be muzzled. Are you listening Blake…..or are they the enemy now. High fives to Thelma and Louise.
Did Gina speak out? Awesome!
That’s right, Susan! Tell it to the world. Hope she is the first of many to speak out against him.
Blake is a non-issue. She is not a molester, Woody is. Why can’t the rightful wrath of people be saved for the criminal and perpetrator, Woody himself? He has let young actresses take flack for him forever. Miserable coward. Yes, they are opportunists for doing so, but HE is the offender.
He’s getting plenty of wrath on here. I think people are pointing to Blake’s statement because it was yet another typical apologist comment from someone who has worked with him, and the most recent of the bunch. If people like Blake weren’t willing to look past what he has done, Woody wouldn’t have a career right now.
I agree that he is the criminal…..but I think these “starlets” who take roles in his movies and support him are enablers. He molested the children and destroyed lives, but they permit it, accept it, so in my opinion, they’re garbage like he is. If he wasn’t a famous director, would they even get close to him knowing what they know. He’s the perv, but in a sense they’re driving the getaway car.
Since I watch his films I can’t shame good enjoyable actors (yes including Blake!) who are in the films. Also he did something bad. He should have gone to jail but it didn’t happen. If it had happened , could he never be allowed to contribute to society? I see movie directors as contributors to society. Also if he does have some perversion it’s upsetting but we should be more upset about how soooooo many children are abused for long times and how to save them. Also research about pedophiles. I have 5 children. My husband and I have no pedophiles that we know in our family. However since I’m a worrier sometimes I worry that one of my kids (not a specific one) could BE a pedophile! Because this happens in society and we don’t know why. Anyways it’s a huge problem. Just a few days ago I saw an article about how there is so much sex tourism and it’s not just white men in Thailand. It’s still men but many men from Asia too. So disturbing – why are so many men so sick, and who are all these ppl selling kids for. Sex? Also woody and soon yi have a disturbing relationship but so do many people who got together both as adults. I definitely support Dylan’s right to prosecute and call him out, however I would still watch and analyse his films without any love or fangirling for him.
I applaud Susan and think she is kick-ass. And I’m happy for Dylan that she has someone stand up for her.
I don’t believe that every actor/actress is selling their soul to the devil to work with him. Not everybody believes he molested Dylan. There are plenty that find Mia suspect Some like Blake just don’t investigate to even make an informed opinion one way or the other, just head in the sand.. But I believe that there are many (celebs and non-celebs) that believe that that day in question was so muddled as to never know the answer, and go with the fact the charges were dropped. I kind of think that that was where Cate Blanchett fell, not knowing the answer, and why she was tactful in what she said when Dylan’s letter came out. But she had already filmed with Woody before that and was promoting te movie.
Blake and Kristen, on the other hand and others in the movie, took their roles after everything had been back out in the public consciousness again beginning with the victim’s own powerful open letter, and should have at the least made you look back into it again, the allegations, because of all the recent articles after Dylan’s open letter. But instead she talks about he was empowering to women.
I find the day in question problematic, but ultimately believe she was molested. But even if all of the story weren’t 100 percent true or accurate about that day, I find his earlier behavior with her, even though the mental health professionals treating him before the day in question wrong when they said his behavior regarding Dylan was obsessive but not sexual in nature. I think his obssesion with her was sexual, even if not overtly at the time, more like his behavior was escalating. My opinion is the fact that he was sticking his thumb in her mouth for her to suck on was him fantasizing about her sucking his penis and was also grooming her.
As far as Soon-Yi, I think while inappropriate andrepugnant, that as time went on many just forgot about it because he’s been married for decades to Soon Yi, and she was over 18. And many just forgot about all the sordid details that came out about this as time went on, me included, until Dylan wrote her open letter, and I went back and read a lot of the info and became disgusted all over again.
Cate Blanchett doesn’t get even a slightly pass from me. That woman has the absolute worst record in supporting this sick pedos.
Not only she worked with and praised Woody, she named her kid after Roman Polanski and her manager’s husband is also accused to had sexually harrased a child…
Mia chose not to go forward with a trial because Dylan was regressing and she was afraid what a trial would do to her. I know it means the charges were dropped but that makes it seems like there wasn’t a case when there definitely was one. I firmly believe, as the prosecutor did, that Woody would have been convicted. A family court judge later award sole custody to Mia and stated that all measures needed to be taken to protect Dylan. Woody chose not to appeal the judge’s decision either, when he could have.
And Soon-Yi… regardless of her age, it’s like Susan Sarandon says.. you don’t go there. That’s the problem I have with anyone that signs on to act in a Woody Allen film.. he had a sexual relationship and later married a woman that he was a father figure to…that speaks volumes about who he is. Even if one can believe he did not molest Dylan, how do you reconcile his relationship with Soon- Yi.
Yeah his earlier “obsessive” behavior with Dylan is what really convinced me it happened.. Note: I’ve never thought Dylan was LYING but I do think there are situations where someone’s “truth” can be muddled by time, memory, unintented (or intended) influence, etc But his creepy obsession with Dylan? Yeah that confirmed it for me.
And Susan’s earlier comment about how Woody’s inappropriate behavior regarding Soon Yi is important too. Even if he didn’t molest Dylan he completely tore that family apart with his selfish behavior. He’s a pretty terrible person regardless.
@jferber
It’s not like you have to choose between one or the other. This is such a nonsense argument. Woody Allen is a sexual predator and he should be shunned. Nobody is arguing that. But Blake, knowing this, worked with him anyway and even went so far as to suggest that this pervert empowers women through his stupid films. She deserves every bit of backlash she’s getting for that.
+1
Not to mention, the molesters of the world are the evil-doers sure, but the “Blakes” of the world are what KEEP VICTIMS IN THE CLOSET!!!!!!!!! Seriously. People who look the other way when pedophiles harm children or look the other way when there is domestic violence are A MASSIVE PART OF THE PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!
She needs to be called out so that people on a larger scale don’t act this way any more.
Good. It shows she has integrity.
Finally someone that isn’t afraid to speak up! Love her!
I hope her next movie is a good one… because whatever it is, I’m seeing it on the big screen.
Yes! Thank you. End of story. He is a pedophile and shame on anyone who works with him
Thank God for this woman. Hopefully she’s just the first one of many.
Finally! And at such an event. Respect.
God, thank you, Susan Sarandon. I so appreciate her sticking her neck out and being so public about her opinion here.
Ya know what is a really, really great film? István Szabó’s 1981 film Mephisto. It’s all about a struggling actor who decides to work with the Nazis after they promise to make him a star….
I think everyone in Hollywood needs to watch this film and try to wake up a little.
On the other hand, this could invoke Godwin’s Law….
Love Susan. This is how to be a strong woman.
GO Susan! Thank you
Yes! Go IN!
No tea, no shade, no pink lemonade. Thank you Susan for speaking the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Make those toddlers look like the fools they really are.
Let’s keep this snowball rolling ladies!!! With enough momentum – we could drop the proverbial load right on his head.
I love Susan Sarandon. Good for her to speak the truth…Hopefully others will follow suit.
I am in between the ages of Kristen and Blake and it will be very helpful for them (and everyone) for older people in the industry to speak out against Allen.
Growing up, I didn’t know who he was. When I first heard of him, I knew nothing about the past assault allegations. I probably learned through the Simpsons or something that he married Soon-Yi but I still had no idea about the assault until relatively recently.
It was known for a long time what he had done in Hollywood but he continued working, being worked with, being celebrated etc. If I were in the situation of a young starlet and I were approached by a famous filmmaker who made the careers of many, I’d jump at the chance! Especially someone who continued to make films every year. If someone then said that person had done bad things, my instinct would be to not believe it. The person I know is so great, it must be lies! This happens literally every day in the real world.
If older, more established stars begin to denounce him, I think the younger generation will follow promptly. Where were these stars even ten years ago? If they had have spoken up then, younger people coming through with no knowledge of what went on at the time maybe could have had some insight? Not blaming anyone at all – just saying it’s understandable to want to believe the best about someone who has been so kind to you, who gave you so many opportunities. That’s human nature. Add to that not ever having met the alleged victim, you can see why they don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them.
Just my opinion!
I do not condone any child abusers, sexual abusers or anyone else of that persuasion. But if someone came forward and said my boss assaulted them 20 years ago, would I automatically believe them? Maybe, maybe not. But without knowing more, I’d never publicly make a statement against my boss! That’s for sure.
With all the publicity this is getting, I’d hope these women would open Google and do a little search before they start mouthing off any further about how great he is.
Very much agree with this. It’s all very fine and well pouring scorn on young and upcoming actresses for jumping at the chance to work with Allen – their agents will be all about the $$$s and not remotely interested in where those $$$$s come from – but if the anti-Allen word was out there from those with power and influence, then those same young and upcoming actresses could not use ignorance of the facts as an excuse for working with him.
Well done to Susan for using her Cannes platform as a bullshit-free zone.
I also think Woody Allen is a POS, but am a bit confused. Has Susan not read her candidate’s writings in the Virginian where he stated that girls should all be having sex by age 12 and how that should be the age of consent and how men fantasize about sadistically abusing their women???? Bernie is almost as much of a POS as Woody!
He was writing about sexual fantasies in 1972
Google the most common sex fantasies today and most of them involve domination or forcing someone to have sex or being forced to have sex.
What! How has his not reached Jezebel?! How disturbing.
That 1972 article was a commentary on cultural perceptions of women and how feminine inequality plays out in traditional gender roles that help create troubling dynamics in men’s and women’s sex lives.
Sanders was doing (in a supremely ham-handed way) what journalists do every day: draw the reader in with an attention-getting lead-in paragraph, then get to the meat of the article in the middle.
You tell it Susan! I’m glad she isn’t afraid of that pervert and she spoke her mind. On the other hand I can’t believe there’s so many gullible people who believes the pervert’s version. EW posted this on their Facebook yesterday and people were so nasty to Susan because she spoke the truth. So sad.
Thank you Susan for saying this despite the large amount of Hollywood pressure to say nothing.
It is appreciated.
Actresses do allen movies to gain some sort of validation in the acting world. Drew Barrymore, scarlette johansson, blake livley…i think they think it will get them more roles afterwards. There’s more, but i havent watch an allen movie in years.
Love Susan Sarandon!
More power to her. Clueless starlets like Blake Lively should learn from her. Susan is a beautiful, intelligent and talented actress.
Woohoo!! Good on her!
Massive round of applause for her.
Having said that I think it’s disgusting that Blake gets castigated more for working with Woody, than Woody did for actually abusing children. And no one has said a single word about any of the male actors who work with him. Just another example of misogynistic society always finding a way to turn the blame on the nearest woman while men get off scott-free!
Couldn’t agree more. It’s always the women who get it in the neck, as if they, somehow. have more responsibility for taking Allen to task than men have.
And on here, which is so disappointing and hypocritical.
Actually, if you go back into the archives, people HAVE castigated the men that work with Woody Allen as well.
Yes, this! The level of hate against Blake around here is to much. I’d love to see more hate towards W.Allen. That would be deserved. And the same towards male actors. Double standars are also disgusting.
Oh hell yes! I will note that Susan has the career and stature to be able to say these things. She is old enough to not give a shit and at this point what she says will not damage her career. People like Blake Lively are not in the same position. More people like Susan needs to speak up so that young people will be brave enough to turn down his movies when offered.
Yes! I’m so disappointed with Cate Blanchett for this reason.
According to Slate, Susan first said “I have nothing good to say…” When prodded, she said “I think he sexually assaulted a child…” Geena Davis, also there, did not flinch.
From Slate:
On Sunday, actress Susan Sarandon criticized Allen, and she left no doubt about what she meant. During a panel discussion at Cannes with Geena Davis, Sarandon’s costar in the groundbreaking 1991 movie Thelma & Louise, Sarandon was asked what she thought about Allen’s recent comment that he hasn’t made a movie about a younger man falling in love with an older woman because “I just don’t have any material.” Reporters in the room chuckled in response to the question, but Sarandon dryly responded, “I have nothing good to say about Woody Allen, so I don’t think we should go there.” After the reporter prodded for elaboration, Sarandon added, “I think he sexually assaulted a child, and I don’t think that’s right.” The chuckling immediately stopped; but, it’s worth noting, the consummately professional Davis didn’t even flinch at Sarandon’s no-nonsense answer.
Yay Susan!
I love her for having the guts to say aloud what others think but don’t dare to say. I will never unterstand actors or actresses who are still working with this monster. I for one made a decision: I won’t watch any movie of Allen. I like Hiddleston, just an example… But I won’t watch Midnight in Paris. Ever. I love Scarlet. But I won’t watch Matchpoint etc.
I don’t know if Woody’s guilty of molesting Dylan or not. I thought this article was very interesting. If I had to sit on a jury and convict him without reasonable doubt, I wouldn’t be able to. There are two sides to every story.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/27/the-woody-allen-allegations-not-so-fast.html
Didn’t read the article, but even if legally he can’t be found guilty that doesn’t mean he’s innocent. Aside from legal jurisdiction, WA has done more than enough (before Dylan) for people to cast public judgement on him. In the entertainment business that usually counts for a lot, but not for Woody because he has a magic shield of greedy, industry biz associates/partners.
I could. Pedophiles are not complicated, they follow the same patterns and behaviors. Woody is no different, all the way down to his smug almost proud non denial. He doesn’t really care or feel much about his victims because his needs are far more important. All the red flags go up with this one. But I think, because most people are decent and good, that it’s just really hard for many to believe/accept that there is such revolting people sharing this world. But there are.
I read this article when it was published and it was pretty much debunked. It is very biased and leaves a lot of stuff out.
I strongly dislike Sarandon. I will continue to strongly dislike her. But I give her major props for this. I respect what she did here.
However, I’m so tired of women in Hollywood shouldering the burden (and this is separate of Sarandon’s comments, which again, I applaud, yay! and I fully understand she was not asked the question) of this monster. Let’s start asking the men who work with Allen. Light the fire underneath them! Make them answer for it. And more important even than that – let’s start putting the heat on the people and corporations who finance and distribute his projects.
Right on!
“let’s start putting the heat on the people and corporations who finance and distribute his projects. ”
Yes!
The rub with W Allen is that he mostly writes for women. He’s done male lead films, but his female characters and have been the most memorable. But in proper perspective, that’s giving him too much credit. For an established insider it’s not so hard to do in an industry where quality female lead characters are grossly underrepresented.
Imo, he writes a lot of female characters cause he’s obsessed with women and portrays them as either sex objects or as manipulative and/or neurotic.
Thank you Susan. someone who did and said the right, true, and brave thing on this matter. F#cking finally. I just want to know how all these predator bastards make it to their 70’s (cosby, Allen, etc) and then the hammer MIGHT drop. This crap needs to end. More women in power. More decent humans in power-please!
Mia Farrow’s brother received a 25 year sentence for molesting children. No one ever brings that up.
So i think Dylan Farrow was molested, but it could be that it wasn’t Woody, but her uncle.
And it’s possible that she was coached and even brainwashed by Mia.
And I’m not defending Woody, It’s just a possible scenario in a complicated story.
Not even Woody has tried to make this claim. Why are you?
@Lissanne……..Well said!!!
There comes a point where people have to use their common sense and put the pieces together. The law is not infallible and can quite easily be manipulated with money. People came forward saying they saw W.A. in compromising situations with Dylan and W.A. has basically admitted in interview after interview that he is a freaky little beast. Pedophiles BELIEVE that their victims enjoy the sexual encounter and that what they are doing is normal, natural and that it’s everyone else who is wrong. They are almost never able to rehabilitate and will continue to offend. Before commenting it’s important that you read up a lot more on W.A. history, if you do I’m sure common sense will prevail.
Thank you Susan! A lot of younger people wouldn’t know this about Woody Allen, because they weren’t alive at the time. And people not talking about it, just encourages silence and victim blaming. Its still highly disturbing he was allowed to marry his step daughter!
And even more disturbing that he has adopted two young girls. He is the definition of repulsive.
I’m 28 and grew up obsessed with film and writing… and I’ve never seen a single WA film, because the first time I remember seeing Annie Hall on TV, my mom turned off the TV and told me he was a child molester who married one daughter and assaulted another.
Needless to say, it stuck. But that was 20 YEARS AGO, and it’s flabbergasting and infuriating that it’s taken this long for more people to get with it. 20 years of his victims’ pain, 20 years of celebrating him…
Good for your mom. An eight year old has no business watching Annie Hall anyway. They would be seriously bored and lose interest after 10 minutes.
Bravo to her, and thank goodness for people who are unafraid to speak up when something needs to be said.
Thank you Susan. This is what many more actors need to do.
Bravo Susan indeed. I used to love Woody Allen’s movies, when he and Mia divorced, I was living in NYC. It was well know that he molested Daisy, and then turned his back on her ( double abandonment for an adoptive child). I have been unable to watch a movie of his since then.
So happy about this! I hope that this will bring out more vocal condemnation from Hollywood. Surely there are many others who feel the same way but who were intimidated by W.A’s influence in the industry. Such a filthy little man, one can only hope he gets to watch his legacy destroyed completely.
Why attend his premiere then? I mean was she contractually obligated to show up or something? Cause why support him if she feels that way?
I love Susan Sarandon!!!!!! What a class act she is. Pedos are obviously bad people who deserve to be shamed. So much love for Susan.