It's been nearly seven years since Mia Farrow's daughter, Dylan Farrow, published her op-ed in The New York Times about the sexual abuse she claims she received at the hands of her adoptive father, famed director Woody Allen. Though more details of the situation have come out since then, HBO Max's docuseries, Allen vs. Farrow, has shed new light on Dylan's allegations and is making people more aware of what may have happened.
While many celebrities have come out in support of Dylan, vowing to never work with Woody again, others have taken this opportunity to double down in their support of the director — and many have continued to work with him, despite the continued allegations against him. Some of these stars, like Diane Keaton, Emma Stone, and Miley Cyrus, have praised their experiences working with Woody, and have even defended him as a father.
Keep scrolling for all of the celebrities who have refused to condemn Woody in light of all that has happened — and who have publicly supported him in interviews and on social media.
Barbara Walters
After Dylan's op-ed in The New York Times was first published in 2014, the topic came up on The View, and journalist Barbara Walters took the opportunity to defend Woody and who he is as a father.
"I have rarely seen a father as sensitive, as loving and as caring as Woody is and [Woody's wife] Soon-Yi to these two girls," Barbara said at the time. "I don't know about Dylan. I can only tell you what I have seen now."
Wallace Shawn
Actor Wallace Shawn felt so strongly about the situation that he wrote an entire op-ed of his own in the Los Angeles Times in defense of Woody — someone he admitted he has never spent much time with.
"Of the people I’ve known, he’s one of those I’ve respected most," he wrote. "And for that reason, I personally would have to say that it would take overwhelming evidence to convince me that he had sexually abused a child, just as it would take overwhelming evidence to convince me that Desmond Tutu, Franklin D. Roosevelt or Doris Lessing had sexually abused a child."
Miley Cyrus
In a 2016 interview with Variety, Miley Cyrus defended her decision to work with Woody, saying that from her own experiences she'd had with him, she had nothing negative to say.
"From the way I saw him with his family, I never saw him be anything but an incredible person and a really great dad," she said. "People might slam me for saying that. I’m sure it was a hard time for that family. My family has been through hard things, and I think everyone’s suffering is different."
Jeff Goldblum
Talking to the UK's i News in 2019, actor Jeff Goldblum said he enjoyed working with Woody and was open to doing so again.
“Even though I feel like this cultural shift is very, very positive and long overdue and I support it wholeheartedly and take it very seriously, I also admire his body of work," he told the outlet. "So I would consider working with him again, until I learned something more [negative].”
Scarlett Johansson
When asked how she feels about Woody in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2019, Scarlett Johansson said she loved him and would work with him anytime.
"I see Woody whenever I can, and I have had a lot of conversations with him about it," she said. "I have been very direct with him, and he's very direct with me. He maintains his innocence, and I believe him."
Blake Lively
Add Blake Lively to the list of women in Hollywood who sing Woody's praises.
"His dialogue is so specific, and it’s speaking in a 1930s dialect and [with period] references, so it’s intimidating to think, Oh, let me just improvise there and hope that my words blend seamlessly alongside Woody Allen’s," Blake told Hamptons Magazine about working with him on the movie Café Society. "Which they clearly wouldn’t and don’t. But he’s very empowering.”
Kristen Stewart
In a 2016 interview with Variety, Kristen Stewart opened up about a conversation she and fellow actor Jesse Eisenberg had about the situation.
She said: “I was like, ‘What do you think? We don’t know any of these people involved. I can personalize situations, which would be very wrong.’ At the end of the day, Jesse and I talked about this. If we were persecuted for the amount of s— 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.”
Diane Keaton
Having famously worked with Woody on Annie Hall, it was no surprise to find out that actress Diane Keaton has also defended him.
When asked about Dylan's accusations against Woody and how she called Diane herself out in her op-ed in an interview with The Guardian, she said: "I have nothing to say about that. Except: I believe my friend."
Javier Bardem
In an interview with Paris Match in 2018, Javier Bardem said that he would continue to work with Woody since he has never been convicted of anything from the accusations that have been made against him.
“If there was evidence that Woody Allen was guilty, then yes, I would have stopped working with him, but I have doubts," he said at the time.
Alec Baldwin
Not long after the HBO docuseries premiered — and before Alec Baldwin deleted his Twitter account — he took to Twitter to share an article about the controversy, adding in his own two cents.
"Who needs courtrooms or rule of law when we have trial by media?" Alec tweeted, via Fox News.
Kate Winslet
Actress Kate Winslet seemed to say that she didn't know enough about the situation to make a judgment call, but did share her love of Woody as a director in a 2017 interview with The New York Times.
"I didn't know Woody and I don't know anything about that family," she said at the time. "As the actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, I don't know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false. Having thought it all through, you put it to one side and just work with the person. Woody Allen is an incredible director."
Emma Stone
Even after Dylan's op-ed went public, Emma Stone raved about working with Woody in an interview with News.com.au in 2015, adding that working with him had been one of her dreams.
"I can certainly tick [making movies with Woody] off on my bucket list and the experience of working with him couldn't have gone better," she said.
Jesse Eisenberg
In an interview with HuffPost in 2016, Jesse said he didn't like that Woody was being "tried" in the media.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to try people in the press," he said. "I have been tried in the press for minor, minor things because I misspoke or had a sarcastic line or something, so I understand what that’s like because I’m in the public eye, and it’s very painful.”
Justin Timberlake
After singer Justin Timberlake made remarks about supporting women without condemning Woody's actions, Dylan went so far as to call him out on Twitter when he posted about having his cake and eating it, too, saying that's exactly what he was doing by continuing to work with Woody.
Selena Gomez
After working with Woody on A Rainy Day in New York, singer and actress Selena Gomez admitted that her mom had advised her against taking the gig, but she decided to work with him anyway.
“To be honest, I’m not sure how to answer — not because I’m trying to back away from it,” she told Billboard. “[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.'”
