You'll notice a lot of similarities between Lena Dunham's work and Woody Allen's earlier work – a neurotic, talkative Jew at the centre of action set in New York, perhaps being a bit too self-obsessed. So it might have been difficult for Lena to take a pop at him for Dylan Farrow's open letter where she recounts the abuses she alleged she suffered at her father's hands aged just seven. But, nonetheless, Lena has spoken out against the 78-year-old film director.
The Girls actress, writer and director said: 'In the latest Woody Allen debate, I'm decidedly pro-Dylan Farrow and decidedly disgusted with Woody Allen's behaviour.'
'But for me, when people go through his work and comb through it for references to child molestation, that's not the fucking point. I'm not going to indict the work,' Lena told Marc Maron's WTF Podcast: 'I think you can decide you don't want to support the work of somebody who has molested a child. That's a completely appropriate choice. But going through it and saying: "Look, he's told us in 57 ways, he rapes kids," that's not the thing. The thing is to look at the actual evidence that exists in the world, which I think strongly suggests that Woody Allen is in the wrong.'
As well as suggesting that Woody could be more guilty than he says he is, she stuck by her conviction for freedom of expression: 'But for me the point is not to go through his one-act plays looking for references to child molestation. Because I'm not comfortable living in a world where art is part of how we convict people of crimes.'
And we think we totally agree. It certainly makes us feel less guilty for enjoying Vicky Cristina Barcelona so much.
While most people in Hollywood aren't really talking about Woody Allen – despite Dylan directly calling out several actors: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Emma Stone, criticising them for collaborating with Woody – Scarlett Johansson, another performer mentioned in Dylan's letter, seems to have taken Woody's side in this latest scandal. She recently said Dylan's actions were 'irresponsible' and she would only renounce her three-time collaborator if he were to be convicted.
Yeesh.
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Picture: @lenadunham
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.