Woody Allen's Memoir Canceled After Publisher's Staff Walks Out

Woody Allen's publisher canceled plans to release his memoir "Apropos of Nothing" on Friday.

The announcement came after the filmmaker's estranged daughter and son, Dylan Farrow and Ronan Farrow, put pressure on Hachette Book Group with public statements citing Dylan's decades old allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of Allen. The director has denied all allegations of previous wrongdoing and was never charged after two separate investigations. It is unknown if his now canceled autobiography addressed the abuse claims.

A walk-out was also staged by the publisher's own employees.

"The decision to cancel Mr. Allen's book was a difficult one," read a statement from Hachette's Sophie Cottrell. "At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly."

"We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books. As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of views can be heard."

The planned release in April sparked controversy as Hachette's imprint Little, Brown and Company published "Catch & Kill," which was written by Allen's son Ronan, who has long supported his sister's abuse claims. He even asked for Dylan's guidance writing the book, which was an expose on the challenges he faced in reporting on claims of sexual misconduct and a culture of silence in the entertainment industry — specifically claims against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist took to social media on Tuesday to criticize his former publisher, asserting that while he was working on his book, the publisher kept it a secret that they were also working with his father.

"I was disappointed to learn through press reports that Hachette, my publisher, acquired Woody Allen's memoir after other major publishers refused to do so and concealed the decision from me and its own employees while we were working on Catch and Kill — a book about how powerful men, including Woody Allen, avoid accountability for sexual abuse," the 32-year-old wrote on his Twitter account.

Several employees of Hachette also believed the upcoming sale of Allen's book was kept hidden, according to an anonymous staffer who spoke with Slate on Thursday.

"We want the book to be canceled. It's going to be expensive, but its the right thing to do. We want a public apology from the CEO," said the source. "This has ruined a really amazing relationship that Little, Brown had with Ronan Farrow, who's been in touch with us and sent us support. The least they can do is cancel the book."

After two town hall meetings held by Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch, with the second resulting in the walk-out, the publisher agreed, according to Vox.

On Monday, when Hachette announced its imprint, Grand Central Publishing, would release Allen's autobiography, Dylan Farrow was quick to condemn the decision, taking to Twitter to write, "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."

Both she and Ronan claim the publisher never contacted them in order to fact-check Allen's memoir, however it is unclear to what extent, if any, Allen addresses Dylan Farrow's allegations in his forthcoming book.

"This provides yet another example of the profound privilege that power, money, and notoriety affords," Dylan Farrow added in her post. "Hachette's complicity in this should be called out for what it is and they should have to answer for it."

We have contacted reps for Woody Allen seeking comment on the cancelation of his memoir.

TooFab will post updates to this story as it develops.