Woody Allen doesn't think resurfaced allegations of sexual abuse will have a substantial effect on his career, according to a filmmaker who has spent ample time interviewing Allen.
Robert Weide, the director of "Woody Allen: A Documentary," recently became a part of the debate when he wrote a lengthy Daily Beast essay that explained why Allen was never charged with a crime and pointed out inconsistencies that raised questions in the case. But before that piece was published, Weide shared with HuffPost Live a rare peek into Allen's take on the matter:
"When I did the documentary on him, we talked about all this business that happened and I said, 'Was there any concern on your part that this could be the end of your career?' And he said no. He said, 'First of all, all of my films aren't that commercial anyway, so if a few people are going to drop out and not watch my films now because they're mad at me, fine.' It's not like he's Steven Spielberg. And he said, 'If I couldn't get financing for my films, I would write plays, I've got my music.'"
Weide said that because Allen is "famously a Luddite," he doesn't realize how much coverage the story gets online. But that seems to have changed after an open letter from Dylan Farrow was published in The New York Times, which yielded something unexpected -- a response.
The statement from Allen's lawyer echoes what has been Allen's position all along -- that the accusations were "fully vetted and rejected by independent authorities" -- but the public proclamation marks a break from Allen's long-held silence on the situation.
That silence is the reason Allen has been so demonized by people who don't know all the facts, Weide argued, adding that Allen's refusal to comment has caused a "swift boat effect."
"He chooses not to respond to this stuff because he thinks it's so ridiculous, but by not responding, it's sort of like you're in a courtroom and you heard the prosecution's case but you never hear the defense's case," Weide said.
Weide's Daily Beast piece has already drawn its share of criticism. Slate called it an "apologia" that is "full of sleazy innuendo, bad-faith posturing, and passive-aggressive self-promotion."
Weide's ideas are just as divisive as the entirety of the case, but he's right about one thing.
"It's a rabbit hole that you'll just keep spinning around and around in," he said.
See the full HuffPost Live conversation, including reaction from Roman Polanski's rape victim Samantha Geimer, in the video below.
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