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Javier Bardem condemned the backlash against Woody Allen, saying the director is undergoing a “public lynching” and that be happy to work with him again.
“I don’t agree with the public lynching that he’s been receiving,” Bardem told an audience at the Lumiere Festival in France Tuesday. “And if Woody Allen called me to work with him again I’d be there tomorrow morning. He’s a genius.”
Dylan Farrow, an adopted daughter of Allen’s former girlfriend Mia Farrow, accused Allen of touching her inappropriately when she was seven years old. In the 1990s, it led to a long, painful fallout between Allen and the Farrow family that led to a judge rejecting Allen’s bids for custody an issuing a scathing rebuke of his behavior, while ultimately deciding that evidence of sexual assault was inconclusive.
Now, in the #MeToo era, new attention is being paid to the allegations, and Allen’s career has suffered. Projects of his have stalled, actors have disavowed him, and he’s having more trouble than ever finding funding for projects.
Bardem and his wife, Penélope Cruz, worked with Allen on his 2008 film “Vicky Christina Barcelona.” Bardem told the audience he hardly had any contact with Allen during the shoot, but he still defended him.
“At the time I did ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona,’ the allegations were already well known for more than 10 years, and two states in the US deemed he was not guilty,” Bardem said. “If the legal situation ever changes, then I’d change my mind.”
Bardem’s remarks sparked a backlash when they surfaced Friday.
Although some of Allen’s defenders stood with him.
Bardem’s comments stand in contrast to a number of actors, including Natalie Portman, Rebecca Hall, and Timothée Chalamet, who have publicly apologized for working with him and said they wouldn’t do it again.
Allen’s most recently completed movie, “A Rainy Day in New York,” still doesn’t have a release date.
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