Woody Allen's wife opened up in a controversial profile piece in which she slams Mia Farrow and details her relationship with Allen.
After years of relative silence, Woody Allen's wife, Soon-Yi Previn, is addressing the controversy surrounding the filmmaker, his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow and his ex-partner Mia Farrow, in a lengthy new profile.
In the profile, published by New York Magazine's website Vulture, Previn staunchly defended her husband and slammed Mia for allegedly manipulating the #MeToo movement to defame her former partner, and accused her former adoptive mother of physical and emotional abuse.
"I was never interested in writing a Mommie Dearest, getting even with Mia — none of that," Previn said in the profile. "But what’s happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust. [Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim. And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn’t."
In Feb. 2014, Dylan penned an open letter published on The New York Times blog accusing her father of sexually assaulting her at the family's home when she was seven. According to the accusations, the alleged assault took place on Aug. 4, 1992.
An investigation into the allegations was launched in 1993, and no charges were brought against the filmmaker. Allen has staunchly denied all allegations of wrongdoing and said in an interview with The Guardian in 2016 that he has "no interest" in discussing the claims.
However, Allen did join Previn for a portion of her profile and opened up about the impact the allegations by Dylan, and public speculation about his relationship with Previn, had on his career.
"I am a pariah," Allen said. "People think that I was Soon-Yi’s father, that I raped and married my underaged, retarded daughter."
The two are married to this day. Despite common misconception, Allen was never Previn's adopted father -- that was Mia's second husband, Andre Previn -- and it is believed the two began their relationship after Soon-Yi was an adult.
Allen's romantic relationship with Previn reportedly began when she was around 20. However, the filmmaker first began dating her adoptive mother when Previn was 10.
According to Previn, she disliked Allen when she first met him as a child.
“Woody wasn’t interested in meeting us children. And the feeling was mutual; we weren’t interested in meeting him. I hated him because he was with my mother, and I didn’t understand why anyone could be with such a nasty, mean person. I thought he must be the same way," Previn claimed.
Previn's accusations toward Mia are varied, but she claims the controversial actress -- who is the mother of four biological children and seven adopted children -- was emotionally manipulative and physically abusive.
“Mia wasn’t maternal to me from the get-go," Previn claimed, alleging that she had a "hierarchy" in her house among her children. "Mia always valued intelligence and also looks, blond hair and blue eyes."
Previn also opened up about having "a little learning disability" but that she doesn't talk about it, claiming, "Mia drummed it into me to be ashamed about it."
“Mia used to write words on my arm, which was humiliating, so I’d always wear long-sleeved shirts. She would also tip me upside down, holding me by my feet, to get the blood to drain to my head. Because she thought… that blood going to my head would make me smarter or something," Previn stated in the profile.
She also claimed that Mia would try to "arbitrarily show her power" and claimed to have gotten hit and slapped while being called derogatory names, insulting her intelligence.
In January 1992, Mia reportedly found a box of nude photos of Previn at Allen's home, leading to their high-profile and contentious break-up.
"I remember the phone call when she found the photos," Previn said. "I picked up the phone and Mia said, ‘Soon-Yi.’ That’s all she needed to say, in that chilling tone of voice. I knew my life was over and that she knew, just by the way she said my name. When she came home, she asked me about it, and I — survival instinct — denied it. And then she said, ‘I have photos.’ So I knew I was trapped."
"Of course, she slapped me, you know the way of things," Previn claimed. "And then she called everyone. She didn’t contain the situation; she just spread it like wildfire, and then she was screaming at Woody when he came over. Meanwhile, Dylan and [Ronan] are living under her roof and they are very small, 6 and 4 years old. They hear their mother going crazy, screaming in the middle of the night for hours."
Previn's alleged account, and her allegations against Mia, echo claims previously presented by one of Mia's other adopted children, Moses Farrow, who penned a scathing editorial titled "A Son Speaks Out." Posted to his own personal website back in May, Moses made similar claims regarding mental and physical abuse at the hands of his adoptive mother.
In stark contrast to the story presented by Previn, Dylan released a statement in response to the Vulture profile, calling the allegations that she was manipulated by her mother "offensive" and said that she "grew up in a wonderful home."
She also called into question the reliability and journalistic ethics of the author of the profile, Daphne Merkin, who repeated several times throughout the article that she is friends with Allen, and has had a long, personal history with the filmmaker.
"The author has written her friendship and infatuation with Woody Allen. The idea of letting a friend of an alleged predator write a one-sided piece attacking the credibility of his victim is disgusting," Dylan wrote in her official statement posted to Twitter, in which she reiterates her accusations against Allen and defended her mom.
Ronan Farrow also came out to defend her mom in a statement posted to Twitter, where he also accuses Allen -- his biological father from whom he is entirely estranged -- of "planting stories" in the press that present a negative light about his mother and his sister.
"I owe everything I am to Mia Farrow. She is a devoted mom who went through hell for her family, all while creating a loving home for us," Ronan wrote. "But that has never stopped Woody Allen and his allies from planting stories that attack and vilify my mother to deflect from my sister's credible allegation of abuse."
"As a brother and a son, I'm angry that New York Magazine would participate in this kind of a hit job, written by a longtime admirer and friend of Woody Allen's," Ronan wrote. "As a journalist, I'm shocked by the lack of care for the facts, the refusal to include eyewitness testimony that would contradict falsehoods in this piece, and the failure to print my sister's responses. Survivors of abuse deserve better."
Dylan gave her first TV interview regarding her sexual assault accusations against her father while sitting down with Gayle King this past January. Watch the video below to hear more about her detailed allegations.
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