Woody Allen said he “should be the poster boy for the #MeToo movement” and explained that he has never been accused of sexual misconduct by the actresses he’s worked with during his career.
“I’m a big advocate of the #MeToo movement,” the 82-year-old actor/director shared in an interview with the Argentinian news show Periodismo Para Todos Monday, according to The Wrap.
Director Woody Allen (3rdR) and cast members (L-R) Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively, Corey Stoll arrive for the opening ceremony and the screening of the film “Cafe Society” out of competition during the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 11, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
“I feel when they find people who harass innocent women and men, it’s a good thing that they’re exposing them,” he added. “But you know, I should be the poster boy for the #MeToo movement, because I have worked in movies for 50 years. I’ve worked with hundreds of actresses and not a single one — big ones, famous ones, ones starting out — have ever, ever suggested any kind of impropriety at all. I’ve always had a wonderful record with them.”
He explained that it “bothers” him that he has been “linked” to people like disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of a variety of sexual misconduct by more than 80 woman.
“I think in any situation where anyone is accused of something unjustly, this is a sad thing,” Allen explained. “I think everybody would agree with that … Everyone wants justice to be done. If there is something like the #MeToo movement now, you root for them, you want them to bring to justice these terrible harassers, these people who do all these terrible things. And I think that’s a good thing.”
“What bothers me is that I get linked in with them,” he continued. “People who have been accused by 20 women, 50 women, 100 women of abuse and abuse and abuse — and I, who was only accused by one woman in a child custody case which was looked at and proven to be untrue, get lumped in with these people.”
“Of course not. I mean, this is just so crazy,” Allen shared. “This is something that has been thoroughly looked at 25 years ago by all the authorities and everybody came to the conclusion that it was untrue. And that was the end and I’ve gone on with my life. For it to come back now — it’s a terrible thing to accuse a person of. I’m a man with a family and my own children. So, of course, it’s upsetting.”