After Woody Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow accused him of sexual abuse in 1992, many became critical of actors who continued to work with him. One such actor was Mira Sorvino, who won an Oscar for starring in his 1995 film Mighty Aphrodite. But now, it seems she regrets her decision. In an open letter shared on HuffPost, Sorvino apologized to Farrow, admitting that she turned a blind eye to the accusations.
Farrow alleged that Allen sexual abused her when she was seven. What soon followed was an explosive and public custody battle. In a New York Times post in 2014, Dylan once again came forward about the accusations of abuse she and her mother Mia Farrow laid against her estranged adopted father.
At the time, when she was working with Allen, Sorvino admits she was “a naive young actress” and considered Allen a hero. “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,” Sorvino wrote. “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.”
Sorvino was one of the first actresses to come forward with allegations against serial abuser Harvey Weinstein. Ironically, the huge New Yorker exposé detailing the accounts of abuse, including Sorvino’s, was written by Dylan’s brother Ronan Farrow. Sorvino says the experience of talking with Ronan turned her attention toward details of Dylan’s case that she previously overlooked. “I am so sorry, Dylan! I cannot begin to imagine how you have felt, all these years as you watched someone you called out as having hurt you as a child, a vulnerable little girl in his care, be lauded again and again, including by me and countless others in Hollywood who praised him and ignored you,” Sorvino wrote.
Allen was never charged for his abuse of Dylan and continues to deny the allegations. At the end of her letter, Sorvino promised to never work with the director again. “Even if you love someone, if you learn they may have committed these despicable acts, they must be exposed and condemned,” Sorvino wrote. “And this exposure must have consequences.”
