Woody Allen ‘Sad’ For Harvey Weinstein, Hopes Sexual Assault Allegations Don’t Cause A Witch Hunt

Many of Hollywood’s elite are trying to distance themselves from Harvey Weinstein and the sexual assault scandal that is taking over the industry, but not Woody Allen. The Oscar-winning writer and director has dealt with his own share of scandal and owes a lot of his recent success to Weinstein, who was there for Allen when many others had already turned their backs.

Like many others, Woody Allen admitted that he heard rumors about Harvey Weinstein, but that he had never heard about “these horror stories” regarding the numerous accusations against Weinstein, accusing him of using his industry power to sexually harass and assault many young actresses under the guise of meeting to talk about making movies.

According to BBC, Woody Allen, who has made many films with Harvey Weinstein, said that he never was told about any rape or sexual assault allegations while they were working together.

“No one ever came to me or told me horror stories with any real seriousness,” Woody Allen said. “And they wouldn’t, because you are not interested in it. You are interested in making your movie.”

“But you do hear a million fanciful rumors all the time. And some turn out to be true and some – many – are just stories about this actress or that actor.”

Multiple women including Rose McGowan, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie have come out with shocking stories about their encounters with Harvey Weinstein over the years. The list of women who claim that Weinstein was inappropriate with them is growing by the day.

There are also many Hollywood actors and directors who worked closely with Harvey Weinstein for years and claim that they never witnessed any of his inappropriate behavior. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were quick to release statements to that effect. Now, Woody Allen also says that he never saw Harvey in action.

That’s very interesting because, as the Harvey Weinstein scandal gets bigger, it has also been revealed that entertainers like Courtney Love were warning actresses to stay away from Weinstein more than a decade ago. Woody Allen worked closely with Weinstein on several movies, including Mighty Aphrodite, which is cause for many to question Allen’s recent commentary on the Weinstein allegations.

It wouldn't be a "witch hunt" anyway, Woody Allen, it would be a rapist hunt.

Stop insulting witches.

— Amir (@AmirAminiMD) October 15, 2017

Is all this denial an attempt to distance themselves from a man that they knew was doing wrong but that they felt was too powerful to stop? Or are some Hollywood players worried that they may get called out for their inappropriateness too? It seems that Woody Allen is worried that the Harvey Weinstein scandal may spread beyond just him and become a problem for other men in Hollywood too.

“The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved,” Allen said.

“Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that is life is so messed up. There’s no winners in that, it’s just very, very sad and tragic for those poor women that had to go through that.”

The New York Times investigation that led to the Harvey Weinstein takedown was led by Woody Allen’s estranged son, Ronan Farrow. Allen and Farrow have been estranged for years and Farrow has been very outspoken about allegations that his own father sexually abused his sister, Dylan Farrow. Allen has yet to address his son’s role in taking down one of his close business partners, but did talk about what he hoped would come of it all.

Woody Allen while he was watching Hollywood turn on Harvey Weinstein pic.twitter.com/zGu8gJIdzP

— Jackie Talks Nerdy #MiyagiFang4Life (@AnUnabashedNerd) October 15, 2017

Allen has yet to address his son’s role in taking down one of his close business partners but did talk about what he hoped would come of it all. In a nutshell, he’s hoping for healing for the women and that the whole thing doesn’t blow up and expose more men in Hollywood. Of course, he didn’t say it quite like that. Here’s what Woody Allen did say the following.

“You also don’t want it to lead to a witch hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself. That’s not right either.”

It sure sounds like an investigation is needed now that Harvey Weinstein has been outed and a filthy layer of Hollywood has been exposed after decades of rumors. There have already been many questions and doubts expressed after learning that Woody Allen is hoping that this whole thing doesn’t blow up and end up taking out more Hollywood players.

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]