Moses Farrow, the adopted son of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, has made new accusations of abuse in Eric Lax’s recently-published book on Mr. Allen’s film career. No, they’re not accusations of Mr. Allen’s abuse; this time, Moses is turning the heat on Mia Farrow. “Now that I no longer live in fear of her rejection, I am free to share how she cultivated and brainwashed me,” Moses is quoted as saying.
In case you’re fuzzy on the lurid twists of the abuse scandals surrounding Allen over the past few decades, here’s a refresher: in 1992, Farrow’s and Allen’s adopted daughter, Dylan, made allegations of extensive sexual abuse at the hands of Allen. The details are worthy of plenty of cringing; according to Dylan, Mr. Allen routinely asked her to suck his thumb, allow him to lay his head in her naked lap and touched her genital area.
Allen denied any wrongdoing and was never formally charged, but the allegations ripped the family apart and drew a deluge of media attention. Allen and Farrow subsequently fought for custody of their children in four court battles. Allen lost everyone.
Judge Elliott Wilk, the judge in Allen’s custody suit against Farrow, wrote a 33-page decision in the case that concluded that Mr. Allen’s behavior toward Dylan was “grossly inappropriate and that measures must be taken to protect her.”
Why would a seven-year-old girl make up these accusations of her own father? Moses Farrow’s claims in Lax’s book that Farrow had a raging temper, was threatening, and physically punished her children when they were disobedient. He suggests that it was Farrow pulling the puppet strings on Dylan the entire time and that she forced her daughter to turn on Allen. In a 2014 interview, Moses claimed of Dylan and Allen: “She loved him and looked forward to seeing him when he would visit. She never hid from him until our mother succeeded in creating the atmosphere of fear and hate towards him.”
Allen claimed the same thing in court back in 1993, suggesting that Farrow was “a woman scorned” who fabricated the abuse to get back at him for falling in love with her adopted 19-year-old daughter, Soon Yi. Judge Wilk stated in his 1993 decision that there was “no credible evidence to support Mr. Allen’s contention that Ms. Farrow coached Dylan.”
Twenty-five years later, Allen, Farrow, and the eight children remain estranged, with Allen, Soon Yi, and Moses Farrow in one faction, and Mia Farrow and the rest of the children in the other. Allen and Soon Yi married in 1997. He continues to be nominated for and wins many of Hollywood’s highest accolades; Dylan Farrow continues to uphold her assertion that he is a “predator.” In this sordid drama, it seems that the truth may be buried with its leading actors.
