Michael Caine Says He Will Never Work with Woody Allen Again
Michael Caine joins a growing number of Woody Allen film alums who have publicly vowed to never work with the director again in light of the allegations leveled against him by daughter Dylan Farrow.
“I am so stunned,” actor Michael Caine — who won an Academy Award in 1987 for Allen’s film Hannah and Her Sisters — said during an interview with The Guardian.
He continued, “I’m a patron of the NSPCC [National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children] and have very strong views about pedophilia.”
The 84-year-old actor went on tell the Guardian that while he didn’t “regret working” with Allen when he did, he would not do so again.
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“I can’t come to terms with it, because I loved Woody and had a wonderful time with him. I even introduced him to Mia [Farrow]. I don’t regret working with him, which I did in complete innocence; but I wouldn’t work with him again, no,” he told the Guardian.
Allen has long denied the allegations made by daughter Dylan — who is one of the star’s three children with ex Mia Farrow. Dylan publicly claimed in 2014 that Allen molested her as a child. When the allegations first surfaced during his explosive split from Mia in 1992, the director was not charged, though a Connecticut prosecutor said there was probable cause for a criminal case.
Allen and Farrow’s son, journalist Ronan Farrow, also penned a column for the Hollywood Reporter in 2016 in which he addressed the sexual abuse claims and condemned the media for not asking Allen about the allegations. He also criticized stars for working with him. In response, Allen previously told The Guardian, “I have no interest in all of that. I find that all tabloid stupidity.”
The controversy surrounding Allen made headlines again, last year, after the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment accusations rocked Hollywood.
In another statement given earlier this year in response to a new CBS This Morning interview with Dylan, Allen said, in part, of his daughter’s allegations, “When this claim was first made more than 25 years ago, it was thoroughly investigated by both the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare. They both did so for many months and independently concluded that no molestation had ever taken place. “Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup.”
He added, “I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago.”
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A number of celebrities have recently come out and expressed regret for working with the Annie Hall director, including Colin Firth, Timothée Chalamet, Mira Sorvino and most recently Peter Sarsgaard.
“It’s such a complicated question,” Sarsgaard told MSNBC host Chuck Todd on Meet the Press in February. “I believe people when they say ‘I was assaulted’ or ‘I was molested’ or something like that, because I don’t think you really have any other choice. Because if we start not believing people it’s a slippery slope.”
But when asked if he would work with Allen again, Sarsgaard, who starred in the director’s 2013 film Blue Jasmine, said, “I’ve already done a Woody Allen movie,” before confirming that he would not do so again.
Some stars have chosen to stick by Allen, including Alec Baldwin.
Earlier this month, Baldwin, 59, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his decision to stand by Allen, explaining, “My inclination to want to defend my friends — who either A) I thought were innocent, which is Woody or B) I had no knowledge of what they did and I still have no knowledge of what they did, which is [director James Toback] — is a normal inclination.”
He added to THR, “It’s a normal inclination to want to rally by your friends up until the point that they are convicted of something. If they’re convicted of a crime, well then you’re sad, and that’s tragic, but they’ve got to go through that process.”