Diane Keaton: ‘I continue to believe Woody Allen’

Increasing members of Hollywood's elite may be publicly turning their backs on Woody Allen, but Diane Keaton is standing firm in her defence of the disgraced filmmaker. 

Keaton, who came to Oscar-winning fame after being cast opposite Allen in his film Annie Hall, and then, a few years later, Manhattan, was briefly romantically involved with the director. The pair have shared one of Hollywood's most public friendships since the Seventies – and have endured despite the claims of child molestation levelled at Allen by his adopted daughter Dylan.

“Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him. It might be of interest to take a look at the 60 Minute interview from 1992 and see what you think,” Keaton tweeted, sharing a link to an interview filmed months after the then-seven-year-old Farrow's allegations were made public.

In the interview, Allen claims that Dylan's mother Mia, with whom he had two children – the second, Ronan, broke the allegations of assault against Harvey Weinstein in a report in the New York Times – had threatened him: “You took my daughter and I'm going to take yours”. Farrow and Allen's relationship disintegrated after she found nude photographs of her 19-year-old adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. 

Keaton has previously defended Allen against claims of assault. In 2014, after Dylan Farrow wrote an open letter in the New York Times and accused prominent actresses with whom her father had worked of defending him through their silence. She also addressed Keaton directly: “You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keato. Have you forgotten me?” Keaton subsequently told The Guardian:  “I believe my friend.”

Alec Baldwin has also defended Allen, saying that  it’s “unfair and sad” that actors are denouncing the filmmaker.

However, the tide has turned on the director. On Sunday, Kate Winslet spoke at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards, saying that she has “bitter regrets” from working with “men of power” who are associated with sexual harassment and assault, despite defending Allen a month earlier.

Colin Firth has said he'll never work with Allen again, while Timothee Chamolet and Rebecca Hall, who star in his forthcoming film, A Rainy Day in New York, have said they will donate their fees to the Time's Up initiative, which aims to fund legal aid for victims of assault.