REUTERS
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actress Scarlett Johansson said she believed that Woody Allen was innocent of the sexual-abuse accusations leveled against him by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow and that she would “work with him anytime.” Many Hollywood actors, including Greta Gerwig and Timothée Chalamet, have distanced themselves from the Oscar-winning director, who has long denied the claims and whose tarnished reputation has left him unable to find a U.S. distributor for his latest film. Allen directed Johansson in Match Point, Scoop, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. “I love Woody,” she said in the interview. “I believe him, and I would work with him anytime.” The actress said she continues her relationship with Allen, saying “I see Woody whenever I can, and I have had a lot of conversations with him about it. I have been very direct with him, and he’s very direct with me. He maintains his innocence, and I believe him.”
Johansson, who has been actively involved in women’s rights efforts and the Time’s Up movement, publicly called out actor James Franco in January 2018 for wearing a Times Up pin to the Golden Globes and just before he was accused of sexual abuse by five women. When asked if her position on Allen was difficult in a time with an emphasis on believing women’s accusations, Johansson says, “It’s hard because it’s a time where people are very fired up, and understandably. Things needed to be stirred up, and so people have a lot of passion and a lot of strong feelings and are angry, and rightfully so. It’s an intense time.”