Lweek ast 30 Rock actor Alec Baldwin spoke in defense of Woody Allen after the HBO premiere Allen vs. Farrow, a four-part documentary that examined the allegation that the famous filmmaker had sexually abused his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, 7, in the attic of his rural Connecticut home on August 4, 1992.
“Who needs courtrooms or the rule of law when we have a trial by the media?” Baldwin wrote on Twitter, along with an article about the documentary.
Baldwin’s review was sent to his hundreds of thousands of fans the day after the premiere, so it looks like SNLTrump decided to judge the entire series after watching only his first episode. As a whole, Allen vs. Farrow includes not only the testimony of Dylan, Mia and Ronan Farrow, but also interviews with neighbors, family friends, city and state officials, and a wealth of never-before-seen documents, as well as audio recordings of phone calls between Woody and Mia.
Its filmmakers, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, were more than a little surprised by the “media trial” charge.
“Wow. How can you say that? He hasn’t seen it all yet, “Ziering told The Daily Beast. “I think the trial by the media took place over the last three decades, Alec. Let’s see who was tried and convicted. You should: a) watch the series; and b) look at the role played by the media in disseminating the twist rather than the truth, in not doing any fact-checking, in excoriating someone and in condemning it [Mia Farrow] without any diligence for three decades, and then tell us about the judgment of the media ”.
The third episode of Allen vs. Farrow, which premieres this Sunday night, actually focuses on how Allen armed the media against Farrow following Dylan’s accusation of harassment against Allen. Immediately after the news that Allen was being investigated by police, he gave a press conference at The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, where he proclaimed his love for Farrow’s daughter, Soon-Yi University, and accused Farrow of having prepared the vengeance nuisance claim. “Even though Farrow had taken Dylan to a pediatrician to discuss the allegation, and the pediatrician reported it to the police independently.”
After the press, Allen covered interviews on the story TIME, Newsweek, i Gent, and also sat down for an interview with 60 minutes. Mia Farrow says she wanted to keep the matter private for the sake of her children and did not grant interviews at the time. Because of her stance, Allen’s narrative apparently took over the media and, by extension, the public consciousness, turning Farrow into a despised vengeful woman.
“He chose to protect his family before pulling out the story.”
“Woody’s story was so prominent in part because Mia chose not to talk to the media because she knew that if she did, it would further upset the media and already have as traumatic an effect on her family as she was. , who felt that the best thing for his family was to say nothing, “explains Dick.” So he chose to protect his family before he took the story. “
“I would like to raise another point to Alec Baldwin: if you watch the series, that’s right Woody Allen who went public with the story. It wasn’t Mia, “added Ziering. “It was Woody Allen who convened the first press conference. It was Woody Allen who put himself on the covers of TIME i Newsweek, and agreed a 60 minutes interview. This is the first time Mia has spoken at length on camera on this subject. “
Again, Baldwin isn’t exactly the kid on the #MeToo movement poster. In 2017, he briefly left Twitter after criticizing one of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged rape victims, Rose McGowan, for reaching a financial deal with him. Baldwin also complained to Megyn Kelly that the #MeToo movement was aimed at innocent men and joked that she didn’t even know if touching his wife now, Hilaria Baldwin, who is not Spanish, was now “inappropriate.” (There was also his infamous appearance in the documentary of good friend James Toback who spent some time with Roman Polanski aboard a yacht).
Another character who enters the fight in episode 3 of Allen vs. Farrow is the filmmaker’s lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz, who represented Allen at the time of the abuse allegation and subsequent child custody trial (another of his previous clients: Harvey Weinstein). Just this week, Abramowitz was detained by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo amid an investigation into his alleged cover-up of the deaths of COVID nursing homes, as well as three allegations of sexual harassment against him, two of former helpers.
When I mentioned Cuomo’s news to Dick and Ziering, they couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh, dear. I guess he hasn’t seen the series, ”says Ziering. “I don’t think those episodes have aired yet, so neither Elkan would know either.”
“There seems to be a list of regular traffic suspects in such cases,” he adds. “They know the game book.”
As for Baldwin, Wednesday night he announced he would quit Twitter once again, calling it a place where “all assholes in the United States and beyond are going to get their advanced degrees in cunning.”
The Daily Beast will hold additional conversations with Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering immediately after episodes 3 and 4 of Allen v. Farrow.