UPDATED: Moses Farrow, the son of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, published a blog post Wednesday defending his father against claims that Allen sexually assaulted his sister, Allen’s daughter, Dylan Farrow. The post also detailed multiple allegations that Mia Farrow physically and verbally abused Moses Farrow and his siblings.
The post, titled “A Son Speaks Out,” opens with an explanation as to why Moses Farrow felt inclined to write about the situation. “I’m a very private person and not at all interested in public attention,” it reads. “But, given the incredibly inaccurate and misleading attacks on my father, Woody Allen, I feel that I can no longer stay silent as he continues to be condemned for a crime he did not commit.”
What follows is a series of vignettes featuring Mia Farrow and Allen from Moses Farrow’s perspective, in which he repeatedly emphasizes his presence as a witness to alleged acts, or lack thereof, on both sides. The memories he recounts of his time with Allen are all positive, while he claims Mia Farrow physically harmed him and his siblings, as well as “brainwashed” them to fear her and hate Allen.
“It pains me to recall instances in which I witnessed siblings, some blind or physically disabled, dragged down a flight of stairs to be thrown into a bedroom or a closet, then having the door locked from the outside,” Moses Farrow said. “She even shut my brother Thaddeus, paraplegic from polio, in an outdoor shed overnight as punishment for a minor transgression.”
The post also details multiple personal experiences with abuse allegedly inflicted by Mia Farrow, including claims that she slapped him, pushed him, and hit him “uncontrollably all over my body.”
He ends the essay by denying the allegation that Allen sexually assaulted Dylan Farrow, saying that Allen would have never had the opportunity to commit the act, as he, his siblings, and two nannies were present that day, all ordered by Mia Farrow to “watch him like a hawk.”
“The narrative had to be changed since the only place for anyone to commit an act of depravity in private would have been in a small crawl space off my mother’s upstairs bedroom,” the post reads. “By default, the attic became the scene of the alleged assault.”
Moses Farrow also addressed actors who have severed ties with Allen in the wake of Dylan Farrow’s claims. Multiple men and women who previously collaborated with Allen have since publicly spoken out against him, including Timothee Chalamet, Ellen Page, and Greta Gerwig.
“To the actors who have worked with my father and have voiced regret for doing so: You have rushed to join the chorus of condemnation based on a discredited accusation for fear of not being on the ‘right’ side of a major social movement,” Moses Farrow said.
Dylan Farrow has since responded to Moses Farrow’s claims with a statement posted to her Twitter, calling him a “troubled person” and saying his blog post “is an attempt to deflect from a credible allegation made by an adult woman, by trying to impugn my mother who has only ever been supportive of me and my siblings.”
All I have to say with regard to the latest regarding my brother. pic.twitter.com/8WVAXOMKZV
— Dylan Farrow (@RealDylanFarrow) May 23, 2018
Moses and Dylan Farrow’s brother Ronan also replied to Moses Farrow’s claims on Thursday. The journalist wrote that Dylan Farrow’s blog post was part of an ongoing “smear campaign” against their mother.
“Not worth saying much to dignify the repeated campaign to discredit my sister, often by attacking our mother,” he wrote. “This happens every time Dylan speaks, so this is all I’ll offer: My mother did an extraordinary job raising us, and none of my siblings with whom I’ve spoken ever witnessed anything but love and care from a single mom who went through hell to keep her kids safe.
“After relentless legal scrutiny of my mother’s parenting — and efforts to discredit her — she was granted sole custody to protect us from Woody Allen. We all grew up with offers from him to speak out against our mother in exchange for support. (He made helping to pay for my college education contingent on turning against her and lying. I declined.)
“My sister’s allegation is backed by a significant body of credible evidence, including physical evidence and eyewitnesses to abuse. I hesitated to speak on this only because I didn’t want to draw attention to a smear campaign that has been running since Dylan’s pediatrician first called the police almost 30 years ago. I believe my sister.”
