"This provides yet another example of the profound privilege that power, money, and notoriety affords."
An upcoming autobiography from Woody Allen has been condemned by his daughter Dylan Farrow, who called it "deeply upsetting," while criticizing the publisher.
Farrow has claimed Allen sexually abused her as a child in the 1990s, which Allen denies; he was never charged after two separate investigations. The allegations had resurfaced in light of the #MeToo era; and the reporting of her brother, Ronan Farrow, who wrote various investigative pieces exposing claims of sexual misconduct and a culture of silence in the entertainment industry — specifically claims against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Ronan then wrote a book about the challenges he faced in attempting to report on abuses of power, titled "Catch and Kill," and was published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, which is set to release Allen's "Apropos of Nothing" on April 7, through another of its divisions Grand Central Publishing.
My statement on the disappointing and, frankly shocking, news from @HachetteUS today. pic.twitter.com/h0zuAi0T7l
— Dylan Farrow (@RealDylanFarrow) March 3, 2020
Taking to her Twitter account on Monday night, Farrow wrote, "Hachette's publishing of Woody Allen's memoir is deeply upsetting to me personally and an utter betrayal of my brother whose brave reporting, capitalized on by Hachette, gave voice to numerous survivors of sexual assault by powerful men."
Farrow claimed she was never contacted to fact check information given in the memoir, which she asserted demonstrates "an egregious abdication of Hachette's most basic responsibility."
"This provides yet another example of the profound privilege that power, money, and notoriety affords," she added. "Hachette's complicity in this should be called out for what it is and they should have to answer for it."
TooFab has contacted Grand Central Publishing for comment.
Allen's autobiography has been billed by Grand Central Publishing as a "comprehensive account of his life, both personal and professional, and describes his work in films, theater, television, nightclubs, and print. Allen also writes of his relationships with family, friends, and the loves of his life."
According to The New York Times, four major publishing houses passed on the memoir, as the abuse claims loom over the Oscar-winning screenwriter. The once celebrated auteur has also seen difficulty in getting his films distributed in the US, however, he still has a following in European markets.
Amazon returned rights to "A Rainy Day in New York" back to Allen in 2019; stars of the film Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning distanced themselves from the director, as well as Greta Gerwig and Rebecca Hall.
Chalamet is also the latest celebrity to donate his salary from an Allen production to charity, according to Variety.
Allen, in turn, sued Amazon in an ongoing lawsuit for $68 million, claiming breach of contract.
Meanwhile, Farrow is releasing her debut novel in the fall, "Hush," billed as a "powerful feminist fantasy full of surprising insights," according to a statement released.
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