By Erin Nyren
Soon-Yi Previn, Woody Allen's wife, has broken her silence about her relationship with the controversial filmmaker and her early life with Allen's ex-wife Mia Farrow.
Previn claims in a new interview that Dylan Farrow's allegations of molestation against Woody Allen are false, and that Mia Farrow abused Previn.
"Mia wasn't maternal to me from the get-go," Previn told Daphne Merkin, the author of the op-ed and a friend of Allen's.
"I was never interested in writing a Mommie Dearest, getting even with Mia - none of that," Previn, who was adopted by Farrow and her then-husband Andre Previn when she was six years old, said.
"But what's happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust. [Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim. And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn't."
Woody Allen with wife Soon Yi and adopted daughters Bechet and Manzie at the Venice Film Festival in 2003.Credit: AP
She described the household of Farrow and Previn as volatile.
"She tried to teach me the alphabet with those wooden blocks. If I didn't get them right, sometimes she'd throw them at me or down on the floor. Who can learn under that pressure?"
Previn said while she does have a "little learning disability," which makes spelling difficult, Farrow would write words on her arms to get her to remember them, and hold her upside down for periods of time because "she thought that blood going to my head would make me smarter or something."
She said Farrow also slapped her and spanked her with a hairbrush.
A family spokesperson refuted all Previn's claims of physical abuse, neglect, or showing favouritism to one child over another.
Allen and Soon-Yi in Paris in 1997. Credit: AP
Previn goes on to describe the beginning of her relationship with Allen, noting that the two were consenting adults at the time - she was 21. She says that in the beginning, neither thought the relationship would last, but over time, they grew closer.
"I wasn't the one who went after Woody - where would I get the nerve? He pursued me. That's why the relationship has worked: I felt valued. It's quite flattering for me. He's usually a meek person, and he took a big leap," she said in the article.
She also described the moment Farrow found out about the affair by discovering nude photos of Previn. Her relationship with Farrow deteriorated even further, she said.
"I remember the phone call when she found the photos," Previn said. "I picked up the phone and Mia said, 'Soon-Yi.'
"That's all she needed to say, in that chilling tone of voice. I knew my life was over and that she knew, just by the way she said my name.
"When she came home, she asked me about it, and I - survival instinct - denied it. And then she said, 'I have photos.' So I knew I was trapped.
"Of course, she slapped me, you know the way of things. And then she called everyone. She didn't contain the situation; she just spread it like wildfire, and then she was screaming at Woody when he came over."
In August 1992, Dylan Farrow alleged that Allen had abused her, which Allen has denied and claimed Mia manipulated Dylan into doing. The allegations led to a much-publicised, drawn-out custody battle.
Allen's sister, Letty Aronson, told Vulture that Mia told her around that time: "'He took my daughter, I'm going to take his.' I said, 'Don't be ridiculous. [Dylan] loves Woody. A child should have a father.' She said, 'I don't care.'"
Dylan took to Twitter to refute the published story.
"My mother never coached me, but she did stand by me, even when Woody Allen unleashed hell on her via lawyers and publicists and allies like the author of this piece," she wrote about Merkin, who noted in the article that she's been friends with Allen for over 40 years.
"I have a message for the media and allies of Woody Allen: no one is 'parading me around as a victim' - I continue to be an adult woman making a credible allegation unchanged for two decades, backed up by evidence," she wrote.
"My only hesitation has been the way my mother is targeted as a result, as is the case here. Shame on New York Magazine."
Reuters, Fairfax Media