Woody Allen slams son Ronan Farrow's reporting after New York Times' criticism
Woody Allen is speaking out against his son Ronan Farrow, whose journalism recently faced criticism from The New York Times.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the director spoke about a Times' column by Ben Smith that raised concerns about Farrow's work, as well as the problems he sees in his son's reporting.
"Up until a couple of days ago I would have said 'Gee, this is great, he’s done some good investigative journalism and more power to him, I wish him all the success in the world,'" he said in the article published Friday. "But now it’s come out that his journalism has not been so ethical or honest."
Allen added that he thinks more people are starting to find problems with the way Farrow does his job.
"Now, I found him to not be an honest journalist in relation to me at all, but I write that off because, you know, I understand he’s loyal to his mother (Mia Farrow)," the director continued. "But now people are beginning to realize that it isn’t just in relation to me that his journalism has been kind of shoddy, and I’m not so sure that his credibility is going to last."
USA TODAY has reached out to Farrow's reps for comment.
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In a Times' column published May 17, Smith wrote that Farrow's reporting "can be misleading but he does not make things up."
"His work, though, reveals the weakness of a kind of resistance journalism that has thrived in the age of (President) Donald Trump: That if reporters swim ably along with the tides of social media and produce damaging reporting about public figures most disliked by the loudest voices, the old rules of fairness and open-mindedness can seem more like impediments than essential journalistic imperatives," Smith wrote.
In a Twitter thread posted May 18, Farrow addressed several issues Smith brought up in his column and concluded that he stands by his reporting.
Farrow, 32, has been lionized in the media world and won a Pulitzer in 2018 for his reporting for The New Yorker on the sexual misconduct allegations that brought down Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein. (He shared the prize with The New York Times, which also published a blockbuster investigation of Weinstein in October 2017.)
Farrow has also stood by his sister Dylan's claims that Allen molested her when she was a child. Allen has denied any wrongdoing, and he was never charged after two separate investigations in the 1990s.
Allen told The Telegraph that his adopted daughter's allegation "hasn't resonated in any real practical or detailed way."
"I still make my movies, I still get my plays produced," Allen continued. "My following has never been huge but it’s always been loyal, and has remained for the most part intact. Every now and then there’s an annoying little glitch when an actor says they’re not going to work with you, but I just get a different actor. Not the end of the world."
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Contributing: Maria Puente, Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woody Allen slams Ronan Farrow's 'shoddy' reporting after NYT critique