Aussie actress Cate Blanchett has defended her position on controversial director Woody Allen, telling an interviewer that she knew nothing about his alleged sexual abuse when she worked with him on the 2013 film Blue Jasmine.
Allen’s adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, who has accused him of molesting her in their home in 1992, took a swipe at Blanchett earlier this year, after the New York Times praised the actress for her work as “a vocal campaigner against sexual harassment.”
“Can one be a ‘vocal campaigner against sexual harassment’ and a vocal supporter of Woody Allen?” Farrow wrote on Twitter. “Seems a tad oxymoronic.”
In an interview that aired this week, journalist Christiane Amanpour asked Cate Blanchett how she can simultaneously support movements like #MeToo while staying silent on Allen’s alleged abuses, and she bristled at the question, saying:
“I don’t think I’ve stayed silent at all. At the time that I worked with Woody Allen, I knew nothing of the allegations, they came out at the time that the film was released. At the time, I said it’s a very painful and complicated situation for the family, which I hope they have the ability to resolve. If these allegations need to be re-examined – and it’s my understanding they’ve been through court – then I’m a big believer in the justice system and setting legal precedents. If the case needs to be reopened, I am absolutely, wholeheartedly in support of that.”
She continued:
“Social media is fantastic about raising awareness about issues, but it’s not the judge and jury, and so I feel that these things need to go into court, so that … If these abuses have happened, that the person is prosecuted, so someone who is not in shiny industry that I am can use that legal precedent to protect themselves. Always people, in my industry or any other industry – they’re preyed on because they’re vulnerable.”
You can watch the relevant section of the interview with Cate Blanchett below:
https://twitter.com/TowerwhiteDani/status/976553881009143809
