In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Woody Allen, now promoting his debut novel What’s With Baum, once again denied the long-standing allegations that he molested his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow. He dismissed the fallout as “just dumb”, calling cancel culture a misguided moral crusade.
If an actor says, ‘I won’t work with him,’ basically, the actor is thinking, ‘I’m doing a good thing’. But he’s really making a mistake. Someday he may learn that.
When asked if he feels anger at those who distanced themselves, Woody Allen replied, “I don’t get angry… What surprises me is how ready and willing people are to embrace it.’” In a direct response, Dylan Farrow, now 40, issued a powerful rebuttal: “I am sick and tired of the misogynistic and unscientific narrative that I was coached or brainwashed.” She added:
I was s*xually assaulted by Woody Allen.
From Oscar winners like Kate Winslet and Colin Firth to rising stars like Timothée Chalamet and Selena Gomez, a growing chorus of actors have stepped forward to disown Allen and the work they did with him. Here are 10 actors who’ve publicly drawn a line in the sand when it comes to working with Woody Allen.
10. Blake Lively
Blake Lively initially defended Woody Allen, citing her personal experience with him on set as she shared with the Los Angeles Times:
It’s very dangerous to factor in things you don’t know anything about. I could [only] know my experience. And my experience with Woody is he’s empowering to women.
However, since Dylan Farrow’s renewed statements, Lively has remained notably silent. Currently entangled in a legal dispute with her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni, she has refrained from promoting the film on her platforms and has not collaborated with Allen again.
9. Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet originally praised Woody Allen’s talent with female roles as the actress informed Sydney Morning Herald:
He understands the female characters he creates exceptionally well.
But in a 2020 Vanity Fair interview, her tone drastically changed:
It’s like, what the f**k was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski? It’s unbelievable to me now how those men were held in such high regard, so widely in the film industry and for as long as they were. It’s f**king disgraceful.
The actress threw politeness out the window and speaks from a place of deep self-awareness, honesty, and, most importantly, accountability.
8. Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez was caught in the crossfire of the #MeToo movement as her Allen film, A Rainy Day in New York,
To be honest, I’m not sure how to answer—not because I’m trying to back away from it. [The Harvey Weinstein allegations] actually happened right after I had started [on the movie]. They popped up in the midst of it. And that’s something, yes, I had to face and discuss. I stepped back and thought, Wow, the universe works in interesting ways
While she hasn’t directly condemned Allen, Gomez reportedly did not promote the film on any of her social media platforms.
7. Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart reflected on the complex moral terrain of working with Woody Allen in Café Society as she confessed to Variety:
At the end of the day—Jesse and I talked about this—if we were persecuted for the amount of s**t that’s been said about us that’s not true, our lives would be over. The experience of making the movie was so outside of that; it was fruitful for the two of us to go on with it.
Though she has not made a public renouncement, Stewart has reportedly avoided future collaborations with Allen.
6. Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Hall issued a heartfelt apology and made a donation in response to the backlash. A Rainy Day in New York actress acknowledged that at the time, she agreed quickly because the role was significant and convenient, but later realized the moral and emotional complexity involved. She wrote on Instagram:
The day after the Weinstein accusation broke in full force I was shooting a day of work on Woody Allen’s latest movie in New York. I couldn’t have imagined somewhere stranger to be that day.
She said that she donated her entire “wage” to Time’s Up and committed to being part of systemic change.
5. Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Chalamet admitted that he can’t openly discuss his decision to work with Woody Allen due to legal or contractual restrictions. However, he made it clear that he doesn’t want to financially benefit from that project. The Dune actor wrote on Instagram:
I’m not able to answer the question directly because of contractual obligations. But what I can say is this: I don’t want to profit from my work on the film.
To align himself with social justice efforts and show support for victims of abuse and inequality, he pledged to donate all his earnings from that film to organizations fighting for justice, equality, and respect: specifically TIME’S UP, The LGBT Center in New York, and RAINN.
4. Rachel Brosnahan
Rachel Brosnahan, known for Crisis in Six Scenes (2016), admitted she’s had a change of heart regarding her work with Woody Allen. She’s joined the growing chorus of actors who now regret their involvement. As she told Hollywood Reporter:
Honestly, it’s the decision that I have made in my life that is the most inconsistent with everything I stand for and believe in, both publicly and privately.
Although she enjoyed the experience at the time, Brosnahan confessed;
I had a great experience working on that project. But I do have to take this opportunity to say that, for me, I have really struggled with the decision to do that project for a long time.
Woody Allen may still be writing novels and releasing films, but the red carpet seems to be growing colder beneath his feet.
3. Colin Firth
Colin Firth kept it brief but powerful when asked by The Guardian in 2018:
I wouldn’t work with him again.
That one sentence said everything.
2. Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard revealed a strange dynamic during filming Midnight in Paris as she shared with Hollywood Reporter:
I admire some of his work but we had no connection on set. I didn’t know much about his personal life, actually. I knew that he had married one of his daughters, which I thought, honestly, was weird, but I cannot judge something I don’t know. But I have to say if he asked me to today I would question more, I would dig more…. I’m very ignorant about this story and I just see that it hurts to see people suffering.
She empathized with the emotional suffering others are experiencing.
1. Hayley Atwell
Hayley Atwell, whose film debut was in Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream (2007) alongside Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor, also broke her silence on what that experience was really like. Speaking to The Guardian, she admitted:
I haven’t spoken about this before. It was my first film and I didn’t feel directed by him at all.
With remarkable clarity and courage, Atwell stood with Dylan Farrow:
I stand in solidarity with his daughter and offer an apology to her if my contribution to his work has caused her suffering or made her feel dismissed in any way.
And perhaps the most eyebrow-raising twist? Allen’s novel, What’s With Baum, blurs fiction and autobiography in eerie detail. Per Wall Street Journal, the main character is a
Middle-aged Jewish journalist turned failed playwright turned middling novelist named Asher Baum. It features a rocky third marriage, alluring younger women [and] career-ending blunders.
Even he admits, “There are a number of things that happened in my life, and I throw them in whatever I’m working on.”
Is Woody Allen being unfairly condemned, or is this a long-overdue reckoning finally catching up to him? Will more actors break their silence? Or is this just the tip of the iceberg?
What do you think? Would you still watch a Woody Allen film? Drop a comment below!
