Woody Allen tells Cannes crowd he won’t read son’s criticism

In an interview with Variety at Cannes this morning, Blake Lively criticized the film festival’s master of ceremonies for making a joke about her Café Society director Woody Allen’s alleged history of sexual abuse. “You’ve shot so many of your films here in Europe and yet in the USA you haven’t even been convicted of rape”, Lafitte said to Allen, provoking “gasps” from the crowd.

However, it was not clear whether the joke was aimed at Allen or director Roman Polanski, who has been living in Europe to escape charges that he raped a 13-year-old in the UK. But Lafitte told the USA trade bible he was unaware of the article when he made his quip, and had intended the comments on rape as a reference to Roman Polanski’s 38-year exile from Hollywood. “I said everything I have to say about it”. “And I said at the time, I’m never going to comment on it again”. A Hitler joke. And a rape joke.

Blake Lively is making feminists and reasonable human beings face palm everywhere with her comments about how Woody Allen is great news for female empowerment.

In an article for the Hollywood Reporter, Farrow, 30, shames the media for going easy on Allen despite the severe allegations waged by his sister, Dylan Farrow, in 1993. I work. It’s worked for me. Farrow also chastised the press for not ever asking “the tough questions”, the New York Times reported.

“I am a non-judgemental or (non)-censorship person on jokes”.

“Being in the media as my sister’s story made headlines, and Woody Allen’s PR engine revved into action, gave me a window into just how potent the pressure can be to take the easy way out. It was more disappointing for the artists in the room that someone was going up there making jokes about something that wasn’t amusing”.

“I feel that any comedian should be free to tell any joke he wants”.

“I never read anything about me, these interviews I do, anything”, Allen said, referring to the fact that he hadn’t read Farrow’s piece, according to Variety.

“I never think about it”, Allen said. “I have moved so far past it”, he says of his war of words with the Farrows. “We don’t always get to speak truth to power as reporters, but I try to grab the opportunities I do get”, he said.

Interestingly, THR was banned from a Thursday lunch event by Allen’s long-time publicist, Leslee Dart.

Allen answered, “I’ve said all I have to say about it”.

In 1997, the multi-hyphenate comedian famously married Soon-Yi Previn, 45 – the adopted daughter of his former girlfriend Mia Farrow.