The question of whether director Woody Allen molested his daughter Dylan Farrow at the age of 7 has torn the Farrow family apart, with Allen's ex-partner Mia Farrow, son Ronan and daughter Dylan insisting that Allen committed sexual abuse. Now Moses, another of Dylan's brothers, has stepped out in Allen's defense. "Of course Woody did not molest my sister," he told People magazine in this week's cover story.
The allegations first surfaced in 1993, amid a tumultuous custody battle between Farrow and Allen, who split after Mia discovered Allen was having an affair with Farrow's daughter, Soon-Yi (now Allen's wife). The allegations resurfaced in the beginning of February 2014 when Dylan wrote an open letter in the New York Times detailing the alleged abuse.
Moses, who at one point sided with Dylan and Mia, is now estranged from them and is close to Allen and Soon-Yi. "My mother drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the family and sexually molesting my sister," said the 36-year-old. "And I hated him for her for years. I see now that this was a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi."
He countered Dylan's account of the abuse that took place in a "a dim, closet-like attic," saying that everyone was in public spaces. He claims that Mia turned Dylan against Allen during the custody battle:
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. The day in question, there were six or seven of us in the house. We were all in public rooms and no one, not my father or sister, was off in any private spaces. My mother was conveniently out shopping. I don’t know if my sister really believes she was molested or is trying to please her mother. Pleasing my mother was very powerful motivation because to be on her wrong side was horrible.
Dylan has called Moses's comments "a betrayal."
"She never planted false memories in my brain," she told People. "My memories are mine. I remember them. She was distraught when I told her. When I came forward with my story she was hoping against hope that I had made it up. In one of the most heartbreaking conversations I have ever had, she sat me down and asked me if I was telling the truth. She said that Dad said he didn’t do anything. and I said, 'He's lying.'"
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