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#MeToo author slams publisher for estranged father Woody Allen's memoir
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Ronan Farrow attends HISTORYTalks Leadership & Legacy presented by HISTORY at Carnegie Hall on February 29, 2020 in New York City. (AFP/Noam Galai)
A
n investigative journalist who chronicled Hollywood sex abuse claims that implicated his estranged father Woody Allen has parted ways with his publisher over its decision to release the director's memoirs.
The filmmaker behind Annie Hall and Manhattan has long been accused of molesting his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow when she was seven years old in the early 1990s.
The 84-year-old was cleared of the charges, first leveled by his then-partner Mia Farrow, after two separate months-long investigations, and has steadfastly denied the abuse. But Dylan, now an adult, maintains she was molested.
Her brother Ronan Farrow revived the allegations in 2016 and lashed out at the media for failing to ask hard questions about the director.
Farrow later helped spark the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment with his reporting on disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was convicted of rape and sexual assault by a New York court last month.
His book-length account of that investigation, Catch and Kill, was released last year by publisher Hachette and became an overnight bestseller.
But Farrow said Monday he was dismayed to learn that a subsidiary of the company had acquired the rights to Allen's memoirs, which it will release next month.
"Hachette did not fact check the Woody Allen book," said Farrow in a statement posted on Twitter.
Hey, just wanted to share my thoughts on some recent news: pic.twitter.com/ovPczgx8pB
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) March 4, 2020
He alleged that the publisher was "wildly unprofessional" for never contacting his sister for her side of the story.
"It also shows a lack of ethics and compassion for victims of sexual abuse," said Farrow.
"I've also told Hachette that a publisher that would conduct itself in this way is one I can't work with in good conscience."
Hachette chief executive Michael Pietsch defended the decision to release Allen's memoirs in a phone interview with the New York Times.
"We do not allow anyone's publishing program to interfere with anyone else's," Pietsch told the newspaper.
