Hollywood stars apologise for working with Woody Allen over sexual abuse claims

Actors who worked with director Woody Allen have apologised and donated their earnings to sexual harassment and assault charities.

Greta Gerwig, Mira Sorvino, Rebecca Hall and Golden Globe nominee Timothee Chalamet are the latest to disavow the acclaimed filmmaker over allegations of sexual abuse made by Allen’s adoptive daughter, Dylan, in the early 1990s.

Allen has repeatedly denied the claims.

Chalamet, who has featured heavily this awards season with movies like Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird, announced he will be donating his salary from Allen’s upcoming film A Rainy Day In New York to sexual harassment and assault charities.

“I hesitate to talk about it right now because what I say is only going to anger people,” he told CNN.

“When that film comes out, if it comes out, that’s going to be really important to talk about, but it’s not the time right now.”

The 22-year old wrote on Instagram that “this year has changed the way I see and feel about so many things”, adding that he could not detail why he had made the decision “because of contractual obligations”.

“I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve,” he said.

Also donating her earnings is Chalamet’s co-star Rebecca Hall, who apologised for working with Allen and said she would not do so again.

“After reading and re-reading Dylan Farrow’s statements of a few days ago and going back and reading the older ones – I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed,” Hall wrote.

“That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry. I regret this decision and wouldn’t make the same one today.”

Greta Gerwig, who directed Chalamet in her debut film Lady Bird, also said she regrets working with Allen in the past.

“If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film,” she said of her performance in From Rome With Love.

“It’s something that I’ve thought deeply about, and I care deeply about. I haven’t had an opportunity to have an in-depth discussion where I come down on one side or another.”

Actress Mira Sorvino, who starred in the 1995 Woody Allen comedy Mighty Aphrodite, wrote a letter last week to Allen’s adoptive daughter in which she said she “turned a blind eye” to accusations.

“It is difficult to sever ties and denounce your heroes, your benefactors, whom you fondly admired and felt a debt of gratitude toward for your entire career’s existence,” she wrote of the director.

“To decide, although they may be fantastically talented and helped you enormously, that you believe they have done things for which there can be no excuse.

“But that is where we stand today.”

(c) Sky News 2018: Hollywood stars apologise for working with Woody Allen over sexual abuse claims