Woody Allen’s Wife Soon-Yi Previn Speaks Out About Sexual Assault Allegations

Woody Allen’s wife Soon-Yi Previn broke her silence regarding the sexual assault allegations against her husband in a New York piece. The writer behind the piece is Daphne Merkin, who is described by Page Six as, "a pal and avowed admirer of the filmmaker." New York's spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporterthat Merkin approached Previn about writing an op-ed that would respond to the claims involving her. 

Last December, Allen’s ex-partner Mia Farrow penned an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in the midst of the #MeToo movement, where she accused the director of sexually molesting Dylan Farrow as a child. Soon-Yi was adopted by Farrow and her then-husband Andre Previn in 1978. Previn started engaging in a romantic relationship with Allen in 1991 while he and Farrow were still together. Woody and Soon-Yi married in 1997. An investigation conducted in 1993 concluded that Allen, who has also denied these allegations, did not sexually assault Dylan. 

Previn and Merkin spoke intermittently over the course of three months to create the op-ed piece for New York Magazine. Soon-Yi asserts that Farrow was trying to jump on the #MeToo movement when the piece was published. "But what’s happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust," she said. "[Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim. And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn’t."

Thinking back to her time growing up with Farrow, Previn recalls an odd request from her adopted mother where she was asked to make a tape detailing her younger years as the “daughter of a prostitute who beat her.” She refused because she was never aware of such a circumstance. Soon-Yi remembers her childhood with Mia as "memories of physical abuse, neglect, or showing favoritism to one child over another."

Previn admits that she initially hated Allen because she couldn’t comprehend why anyone would want to be with someone like Farrow. However, she first started warming up to him after she broke her ankle in 11th grade playing soccer. Soon after, the two started going to Knicks games together around the time when Woody’s relationship with Farrow started falling apart. Their bond started to take shape as she was in college.

Dylan, family members, and Ronan Farrow—the journalist known for investigating Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves' sexual misconduct—responded to the piece on Sunday evening. Dylan stood by her claim that Allen molested her when she was 7, while Ronan voiced his support for his siblings and Mia while condemning the piece. "As a brother and a son, I'm angry that New York Magazine would participate in this kind of a hit job, written by a longtime admirer and friend of Woody Allen's," Ronan said in a statement posted on Twitter. Read their responses below and the piece here.