“Cafe Society” & Opening Gala – Red Carpet Arrivals – The 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival
Woody Allen had a rough opening night at the Cannes Film Festival — as his son
Ronan Farrow accused him
of being a child molester, and a French comic compared him to underage sex fugitive
Roman Polanski! It all made for a scandalous opening for Woody's new comedy "Café Society."
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Greater Talent Network 30th Anniversary Party
Woody, who fathered Ronan (pictured) during his long relationship with Mia Farrow, insisted that he "wasn't offended" by the sex joke — but also had to dodge a question about young girls while banning the showbiz mag that published Ronan's allegations!
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Woody Allen and Mia Farrow
The opening night crowd for the elite film fest showed up for a party hosted by comedian Laurent Lafitte — who turned to Woody and said: "You've shot so many of your films here in Europe, and yet in the U.S., you haven't even been convicted of rape!" The joke got more gasps than laughs with its comparison to Woody and Roman Polanksi, who's been a fugitive in America since fleeing charges of drugging and raping 13-year-old
Samantha Geimer in 1977.
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Woody Allen and His Daughter Dylan Sighting in New York City – November 12, 1988
The tasteless joke was only made worse by Ronan's essay in
The Hollywood Reporter where the son of Woody and Mia Farrow said he believed his younger sister Dylan (pictured with her father in 1988) — who claims
Woody molested her as a young girl!Photo credit: Getty Images
2016 Time 100 Gala, Time’s Most Influential People In The World – Lobby Arrivals
"When I was seven years old," said Dylan (seen here with her mother), "Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me."
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“Cafe Society” Press Conference – The 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival
At a "Café Society" press conference, Woody attempted a joke while avoiding a question from a French journalist — who asked the director why his movies always feature a romance between a young woman and a much-older man. “What did she say?” Allen replied. “You know, I have hearing aids and I put the microphone over my hearing aids to give me a double shot, and it’s still not working.”
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Opening Gala Dinner Arrivals – The 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival
Ronan's accusations include claims that Woody (seen here with wife Soon-Yi, also Ronan's stepsister) relied on his longtime PR firm to use their Hollywood clout to cover up Dylan's claims of molestation — and publicist Leslee Dart was busy working for her client in Cannes.
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“Cafe Society” & Opening Gala – Red Carpet Arrivals – The 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival
Woody's determined flack banned writers for
The Hollywood Reporter from attending events to promote the film — telling the publication that she took action because the magazine "goes out of its way to be harmful to my client." Another reporter still dared to ask Woody if he had read Ronan's article. "I never read
anything about me," he replied.
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