Cate Blanchett has been accused of hypocrisy over her relationship with alleged abuser Woody Allen. Photo / Getty Images
Cate Blanchett has been accused of hypocrisy over her relationship with alleged abuser Woody Allen. Photo / Getty Images
Cate Blanchett has taken a stand against sexual harassment by launching a new campaign, but she's been accused of hypocrisy over her relationship with alleged abuser Woody Allen.
Blanchett is one of 300 prominent women in the entertainment industry who founded Time's Up, an initiative to fight sexual harassment across the US and a legal defence fund to help less fortunate women, reports News.com.au.
But Dylan Farrow, the daughter of Woody Allen who for more than two decades has accused him of sexually abusing her as a child, says the Oscar winner's involvement is "oxymoronic" given her working relationship with Allen.
Can one be a “vocal campaigner against sexual harassment” and a vocal supporter of Woody Allen? Seems a tad oxymoronic. https://t.co/IYa8dspI5H
"Can one be a 'vocal campaigner against sexual harassment' and a vocal supporter of Woody Allen? Seems a tad oxymoronic."
The Australian icon won the 2014 Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Allen's Blue Jasmine.
Farrow, 32, has long maintained her father sexually assaulted her on countless occasions when she was a child.
In a 2014 New York Times article describing one incident, she wrote that Allen, who was in a de-facto relationship with Dylan's mum Mia Farrow, led her to a "dim, closet-like attic" in their home and asked her to lay on her stomach and play with a toy train before assaulting her.
"He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies," she wrote.
"For as long as I could remember, my father had been doing things to me that I didn't like," she alleged.
Mia Farrow (left) holding son Satchel, now known as Ronan, with father, Woody Allen (second right) holding daughter Dylan (right). Photo / Getty Images
"I didn't like how often he would take me away from my mum, siblings and friends to be alone with him. I didn't like it when he would stick his thumb in my mouth. I didn't like it when I had to get in bed with him under the sheets when he was in his underwear. I didn't like it when he would place his head in my naked lap and breathe in and breathe out."
The Midnight In Paris director was investigated but never charged, and has consistently denied the allegations. He countered that Mia brainwashed daughter Dylan to get back at him during their messy breakup.
Farrow specifically called out Blanchett in the 2014 letter, writing "What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett?
Dylan Farrow (left) with mother Mia Farrow (right), who Allen claims brainwashed Dylan to lie about being abused. Photo / Getty Images
When asked about the letter, which was published a month before she won the Oscar for starring in Blue Jasmine, Blanchett responded:
"It's obviously been a long and painful situation for the family, and I hope they find some resolution and peace."
Farrow also slammed Blake Lively in a tweet overnight.
When Lively, who is also one of the founding members of Time's Up, tweeted she was "honoured" to be part of the movement, Farrow replied:
"You worked with my abuser, @blakelively. Am I a woman who matters too?"
Blanchett spoke out against disgraced director Harvey Weinstein, who she worked with on a number of occasions, in the wake of sexual abuse allegations made about him by more than 60 women.
"Any man in a position of power or authority who thinks it's his prerogative to threaten, intimidate or sexually assault any woman he encounters or works alongside needs to be called to account," she said in a statement.
US director Woody Allen (right) with US actress Blake Lively (left). Photo / Getty Images
"It is never easy for a woman to come forward in such situations and I wholeheartedly support those who have," Blanchett said.
She worked with The Weinstein Company in The Aviator, for which she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, and also Carol.
She also starred in several films produced by Weinstein's then company Miramax, including The Talented Mr. Ripley.
In November, actress Ellen Page said working with Allen was the "biggest regret" of her career.
Ellen Page (centre) says her biggest regret is working for Woody Allen (left) on the film 'To Rome With Love'. Photo / Getty Images
"I did a Woody Allen movie and it is the biggest regret of my career," Page, 30, wrote, referencing the 2012 film To Rome With Love.
"I am ashamed I did this," she added. "I had yet to find my voice and was not who I am now and felt pressured, because 'of course you have to say yes to this Woody Allen film.' Ultimately, however, it is my choice what films I decide to do and I made the wrong choice. I made an awful mistake."
