Why Woody Allen’s son exposed the scandal
THE journalist who spent nearly a year doggedly exposing the Harvey Weinstein scandal is the estranged son of controversial film director Woody Allen.
Investigative reporter Ronan Farrow, whose mother is actress Mia, has previously attacked Hollywood for its ‘dangerous’ silence over sex abuse allegations against his father.
He became estranged from Allen, 81, after his adopted sister Dylan alleged she was abused by the director as a child.
Allen has always denied the allegation but Mr Farrow, 29, attacked stars who continued to work with him and to promote his films, say-
ing: ‘That kind of silence isn’t just wrong, it’s dangerous.’ Mr Farrow worked for ten months on his Weinstein investigation, which included accounts from three women who said they were raped by him.
Despite repeated threats that Weinstein would sue, the story was finally published by The New Yorker, along with a taped police conversation in which the Miramax mogul apologised for groping model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.
The expose was reported to have been previously rejected by US broadcaster NBC, where Mr Farrow worked as a freelance news corre- spondent. He said several other news organisations had faced ‘a great deal of pressure’ to drop investigations into Weinstein.
Last week the New York Times revealed eight allegations of sexual harassment, all of which led to financial settlements. The women involved have said they faced enormous pressure to keep silent.
Weinstein, who is a high-profile supporter of the Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, was said to have conducted a campaign of threats and intimidation against anyone who threatened to expose him.
Mr Farrow said his investigation should have been made public earlier and said NBC missed the scoop. NBC has not commented but sources said it was offered an early version which did not include onthe-record accounts from victims.
Mr Farrow said: ‘I walked into the door at The New Yorker with an explosively reportable piece that should have been public earlier, and immediately, obviously, The New Yorker recognised that.’
Asked why NBC had not run the investigation, he said: ‘You would have to ask NBC and NBC executives about the details … I will say that over many years, many news organisations have circled this story and faced a great deal of pressure. In the course of this reporting, I was threatened with a lawsuit personally by Mr Weinstein.’ His mother Miss Farrow praised his investigation, tweeting: ‘In my entire life, I’ve met just a few uncompromisingly ethical men. Ronan Farrow is one of them.’
The Rosemary’s Baby actress was in a 12-year relationship with Allen and they adopted two children, Dylan and Moses, and had one biological child together, Ronan.
They fought a bitter custody battle when Allen started a relationship with her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, who he married in 1997. Four years ago, Miss Farrow, 72, addressed rumours of Ronan’s parentage, saying it was ‘possible’ his biological father was her ex-husband Frank Sinatra.