Woody Allen calls cancel culture 'silly' amid Venice Film Festival comeback
Director Woody Allen has spoken out against cancel culture after falling from grace in Hollywood over sexual abuse allegations.
During an interview with Variety ahead of the premiere of his movie, Coup de Chance, at the Venice Film Festival, the Annie Hall director was asked whether he felt like he had been cancelled.
"I feel if you're going to be cancelled, this is the culture to be cancelled by. I just find that all so silly. I don't think about it. I don't know what it means to be cancelled. I know that over the years everything has been the same for me. I make my movies. What has changed is the presentation of the films," he replied.
"You know, I work and it's the same routine for me. I write the script, raise the money, make the film, shoot it, edit it, it comes out. The difference is not from cancel culture. The difference is the way they present the films. It's that that's the big change."
Allen, 87, was accused of molesting his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow, now 38, back in the '90s and the allegation received renewed interest in the wake of the #MeToo movement, with Farrow participating in the 2021 docuseries Allen v. Farrow.
The filmmaker, who has always maintained his innocence, was asked to respond to the allegations made in the docuseries.
"My reaction has always been the same. The situation has been investigated by two people, two major bodies, not people, but two major investigative bodies. And both, after long detailed investigations, concluded there was no merit to these charges, that, you know, is exactly as I wrote in my book, Apropos of Nothing. There was nothing to it," he stated.
"I don't know what you can do besides having it investigated, which they did so meticulously. One was less than a year and the other one was many months. And they spoke to everybody concerned and, you know, both came to the exact same conclusion."
Allen received a three-minute standing ovation after Coup de Chance's premiere on Monday night. According to Variety, the applause was cut short by him leaving the cinema.
A group of protesters appeared near the red carpet and removed their shirts and handed out leaflets encouraging festival organisers to "turn the spotlight off of rapists".