Michael Caine would work with Woody Allen again: 'You can’t go on hearsay the whole time'

'If he had a trial and someone proved he had done something, I wouldn’t do it'

Michael Caine has sparked controversy after reneging on earlier comments that he wouldn't work with Woody Allen again and seemingly referring to the sexual assault allegations against the director as “hearsay”.

The British actor was asked by Rolling Stone whether he’d work with the film director again, despite existing allegations that he assaulted his adopted daughter when she was a child. He said he would unless “someone proved he had done something”.

“If he had a trial and someone proved he had done something, I wouldn’t do it,” the 85-year-old actor told the publication. “But I didn’t read of him being on trial and being found guilty or fined or sent to prison or anything.”

Addressing the allegations against Allen, he said: “This is all things that people say. You can’t go on hearsay the whole time.”

Caine's comments contrast with those he made in 2018. Amid the growing Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, the actor said he was "stunned" about the accusations against Allen whom he worked with on Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986.

“I’m a patron of the NSPCC and have very strong views about paedophilia,” he told The Guardian. “I can’t come to terms with it, because I loved Woody and had a wonderful time with him. I even introduced him to Mia [Farrow]. I don’t regret working with him, which I did in complete innocence; but I wouldn’t work with him again, no.”

Other actors to have jumped to Allen’s defence include Javier Bardem who, in April 2019, said he has “doubts” over the filmmaker’s guilt.

The pair worked together on Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008.

Caine maintained his support for Brexit in the new interview, as well as revealing the film he regrets starring in the most.