In a previously-unseen interview for 'CBS Sunday Morning', the 'Annie Hall' director is adamant that his estranged daughter was made to believe her allegations against him.

• Mar 29, 2021

AceShowbiz - Filmmaker Woody Allen still finds it "preposterous" to have been accused of molesting his daughter Dylan Farrow. The director's adopted daughter with his ex-partner Mia Farrow first made the allegations during his split from the actress in 1992, when Dylan was just seven.

The accusations were investigated by authorities in Connecticut at the time, but the prosecutor declined to pursue the case, and Allen has repeatedly denied the claims. However, Dylan came forward during the rise of the #MeToo movement to remind Allen's fans and collaborators of the allegations made against him all those years ago, questioning why stars were so willing to overlook the abuse reports to continue working with him.

Now, CBS network officials have premiered a previously-unseen interview conducted with Allen last July (2020), following the launch of his memoir, "Apropos of Nothing", in which he revisits the controversy and again proclaims his innocence.

In the sit down with "CBS Sunday Morning" reporter Lee Cowan, which was released on the Paramount+ streaming service on Sunday, March 28, Allen declared, "It's so preposterous, and yet the smear has remained. And they still prefer to cling to if not the notion that I molested Dylan, the possibility that I molested her. Nothing that I ever did with Dylan in my life could be misconstrued as that."

However, the "Annie Hall" filmmaker, who has long maintained Dylan was coached to make the allegations by Mia, doesn't think his estranged daughter is purposefully making up the abuse allegations.

"I believe she thinks it," Allen, now 85, said. "She was a good kid. I do not believe that she's making it up. I don't believe she's lying. I believe she believes that."

The "CBS Sunday Morning" streaming special, which also included Dylan's 2018 interview with broadcaster Gayle King, follows the recent premiere of HBO docuseries "Allen v. Farrow", which further explores the molestation accusations, and in a statement explaining their decision to share the director's interview now, TV officials cited the "renewed interest in the controversy surrounding the filmmaker".

"Lee Cowan sat down with Woody Allen in July 2020 following the release of his memoir for what would be Allen's first significant television interview in nearly three decades," the press release read. "The interview, which occurred last summer during an active news cycle, is being presented now given the renewed interest in the controversy surrounding the filmmaker."

"The exclusive for Paramount Plus offers the ability to explore Allen, his career, and the allegations in context and with the depth that this story demands."