Dylan Farrow says she doesn’t feel like she has a father: ‘Or is he my brother-in-law?’

'There’s no support group for people whose sisters marry their fathers,' said Farrow

Wednesday 10 February 2021 15:41 GMT

Dylan Farrow accuses Woody Allen of sexual assault for the first time on television

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Dylan Farrow, the estranged adoptive daughter of filmmaker Woody Allen, has said that she doesn't "feel like I have a father" in a new interview.

Allen and his then-partner, the actor Mia Farrow, adopted Farrow when she was a baby, with custody transferring exclusively to Mia after a contentious and highly publicised legal battle in the early Nineties.

Farrow accused Allen of molesting her when she was a young child, allegations which Allen has always denied.

Farrow, who is now a novelist, made reference to Allen's relationship with his wife Soon-Yi Previn, one of Mia's adoptive daughters from her previous marriage to Andre Previn.

“I don’t feel like I have a father,” Farrow said, speaking to Elle. “There’s no support group for people whose sisters marry their fathers. Or is he my brother-in-law? And is she my stepmom? I’ve got to joke about it!”

Farrow's new YA book, Hush, includes themes that draw from the author's own life, with the Elle interview highlighting a section in which the protagonist is "gaslighted".

However, Farrow insisted that readers should resist drawing direct parallels with her life.

“As I keep having to assert,” she said, “I do know the difference between fiction and reality.”

The allegations against Allen are also the focus of a new four-part HBO documentary, entitled Allen v Farrow, which premieres in the US on 21 February.

Allen has never been charged in relation with Dylan Farrow’s allegations, and has consistently maintained his innocence. In a 1993 custody ruling published in full by The Huffington Post in 2014, a judge wrote that “we will probably never know what occurred on [the date of the alleged abuse] 4 August 1992”, adding that “Mr Allen’s behaviour toward Farrow was grossly inappropriate” and “measures must be taken to protect her”.

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Dylan Farrow says she doesn’t feel like she has a father: ‘Or is he my brother-in-law?’

'There’s no support group for people whose sisters marry their fathers,' said Farrow

Thank you for registering