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[WrenchNinja]

Another day, another Woody Allen casting notice: Selena Gomez, Elle Fanning, and Timothée Chalamet (star of the upcoming Oscar hopeful Call Me by Your Name) are boarding Allen’s untitled third film for Amazon Studios, following previous collaborations Café Society and the upcoming Wonder Wheel.

As is to be expected with a new Allen film, conversations crept up about whether or not actors should continue to work with a man who has been accused by ex-partner Mia Farrow of sexually assaulting their young adopted daughter. It’s a question that will always arise when Hollywood stars like Gomez, Fanning, and Chalamet follow in the footsteps of Justin Timberlake, Kate Winslet, Blake Lively, Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Emma Stone, Cate Blanchett, and others who’ve chosen to work with Allen in recent years. The fairness of the question is hardly worth examining at this point, but what is worth interrogating is who has the privilege to continue working with an accused molester and who does not.

When BuzzFeed broke the story that R. Kelly is alleged to be holding numerous women hostage in a cult, there was plenty of condemnation for the mother of one of the victims. One woman, referred to only as J., acknowledged that she was aware of the allegations against Kelly and the fact that he married R&B singer Aaliyah when she was only 15. But she also thought she could protect her daughter: “In the back of our minds, we were thinking [my daughter] could be around him if I was with her. It didn’t really hit home. Even with the Aaliyah situation, now that I think about it, ‘Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number’... but you don’t think about that. You grew up with the song, and you like the song.”

Granted, why should J. have any reason to fear Kelly when musicians like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Hudson, and Chance the Rapper have worked with him in recent years? What she didn’t realize is that predators often prey on the weak—on those without advocates. A young black girl whose parents thrust her into Kelly’s arms so he can “help her career” isn’t going to have the same protections that Hollywood’s most famous artists have when working with Kelly. It’s no different than Dr. Luke having the ability to allegedly prey on Ke$ha while she studied under his wing, all while he continued to work with Jennifer Lopez, Pusha T, or Pitbull. Dr. Luke’s relationships with those established artists aren’t the same as his with a younger protégée.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/why-do-young-stars-like-selena-gomez-work-with-woody-allen

Worth reading the article

 

[Stoop Man]

I wouldn't be concerned unless he brings up the prospect of adoption.

 

[tearsintherain]

Money.

 

[Turbo Killer]

They wanna be taken seriously as actors even if it means working with a child molester.

 

[watershed]

Hollywood is dirtier than the author of this article thinks. Woody Allen's suspect past is not likely to be a factor in the making of his movies. They choose to work with a writer/director whose every 3rd or 4th film is a major critical hit. His movies don't pay actors well but he is a legend, a very good writer, and his actors tend to win Oscars. That's all the reason any actor needs to work with any director.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Why do older stars like Cate Blanchett work with Woody Allen?

Because it's usually a great career opportunity.

 

[Snarky(HEART)]

I'd work with Woody Allen, for sure. Too good an opportunity to pass up.

 

[benicillin]

Woody Allen might be publicly known, but I don't think you could even have a career in Hollywood if you didn't work with bad people.

 

[Kayhan]

Because they think it will help their careers of course.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Why do older stars like Cate Blanchett work with Woody Allen?

Because it's usually a great career opportunity.

FWIW, I don't think Cate Blanchett needs Allen's help.

 

[moggio]

They wanna be taken seriously as actors even if it means working with a child molester.

There's no evidence he molested any children.

There's accusations which are not very credible for various reasons.

 

[……forgetit]

Because he was never convicted? I mean not defending what he did if he did it but accusations are just that, accusations and their is significant gray about what actually happened. A better question would be why anyone would ever work with Roman Polanski again.

 

[LakeEarth]

For acting cred. Because she's a (*snicker*) actress.

 

[DoctorFling]

The keyword here is "accused"

 

[7Th]

FWIW, I don't think Cate Blanchett needs Allen's help.

While I agree with you, she got high critical acclaim with Blue Jasmine.

 

[Fancy Clown]

A better question would be why anyone would ever work with Roman Polanski again.

The answer would be the same

 

[Anton Sugar]

Because he was never convicted? I mean not defending what he did if he did it but accusations are just that, accusations and their is significant gray about what actually happened. A better question would be why anyone would ever work with Roman Polanski again.

You could work with Bill Cosby in good conscience this way.

While I agree with you, she got high critical acclaim with Blue Jasmine.

True. It was also one of his better modern/contemporary films, too, so that helped.

 

[watershed]

While I agree with you, she got high critical acclaim with Blue Jasmine.

And an oscar.

 

[spyroflame0487]

For acting cred. Because she's a (*snicker*) actress.

I have to kind of wonder...would Selena Gomez be considered an actress who became a singer or a singer who became an actress? The line with her is pretty blurred...I think she's pretty decent in acting and I think she might enjoy it more than singing.

 

[……forgetit]

You could work with Bill Cosby in good conscience this way.

I thought about bringing Bill Cosby up in my first post but decided against it, but here goes. You can't compare the Bill Cosby and Woody Allen situations. Woody Allen has one accusation that has a mountain of doubt around it while bill Cosby has enough accusers to fill a baseball league. You'd be a fool to doubt Cosby did it but Allen is a much greyer situation.

 

[jph139]

As far as I know, Allen was only accused (and acquitted) on one occasion, which makes comparisons to Kelly or Cosby hard to make. They have long trails of accusations and evidence. He just... doesn't.

Not that he's not a shady guy on his best day, of course. But I imagine that's pretty standard in Hollywood.

 

[Blader]

While I agree with you, she got high critical acclaim with Blue Jasmine.

I think she did more to help him than the other way around.

You could work with Bill Cosby in good conscience this way.

They aren't remotely the same, unless there's several dozen other women who have accused Woody Allen of molesting their children that I haven't heard about.

 

[Snarky(HEART)]

I have to kind of wonder...would Selena Gomez be considered an actress who became a singer or a singer who became an actress? The line with her is pretty blurred...I think she's pretty decent in acting and I think she might enjoy it more than singing.

An actress who became a singer.

Wizards of Waverly Place was the first thing she was really known for, but Disney cultivates their leads to also have music careers. She didn't get big in music until later, and her fame in music has completely eclipsed her acting career

 

[lightskintwin]

I think she did more to help him than the other way around.

Not really, most big (White) actors want to work with Woody Allen. He writes and directs all of his movies. How exactly did Cate Blanchett help him more in this scenario.

 

[thechristoph]

We seem to accept some pretty heinous flaws in our artists. It appears that we accept that as part of what makes them brilliant.

 

[PdotMichael]

Well, Polanski is still a thing so I guess no one cares about that stuff.

 

[John Dunbar]

what woody allen did might be considered weird and gross by some, but there's nothing to suggest he did anything illegal.

 

[SpaceWolf]

FWIW, I don't think Cate Blanchett needs Allen's help.

She won her second Oscar working with him. My point is it was a good career move and she probably knew it at the time.

EDIT: Already pointed out, apologies.

 

[hamauzu kaito]

It's called an agent. They have history and their own agendas. Sometimes they get work for you that aligns with your beliefs, wants and sometimes they don't.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I thought about bringing Bill Cosby up in my first post but decided against it, but here goes. You can't compare the Bill Cosby and Woody Allen situations. Woody Allen has one accusation that has a mountain of doubt around it while bill Cosby has enough accusers to fill a baseball league. You'd be a fool to doubt Cosby did it but Allen is a much greyer situation.

I think she did more to help him than the other way around.



They aren't remotely the same, unless there's several dozen other women who have accused Woody Allen of molesting their children that I haven't heard about.

My point was the qualifier of "he was never convicted" and "accusations are just that, accusations" can be reeeeeal shifty and really shouldn't be a big influence in these career decisions, as this conversation has shown. "Never convicted" can mean vastly different things.

I think she did more to help him than the other way around.

Agreed. It feels like a lot of actors still clamor to work with Allen but secretly are thinking, "God, I hope this is one of the great ones."

 

[watershed]

what woody allen did might be considered weird and gross by some, but there's nothing to suggest he did anything illegal.

Well there's 1 thing he definitely did and 1 thing he was accused of doing.

He definitely started an affair with his wife's very young adopted daughter, his step daughter I believe, which ended up ruining his family in many ways.

He was accused of molesting his own daughter.

 

[John Dunbar]

I think she did more to help him than the other way around.

i think that's pretty silly. the film will probably be listed as one of the highlights of blanchett's entire career, but for allen it's at best one of better ones he made at the tail end of his.

Well there's 1 thing he definitely did and 1 thing he was accused of doing.

He definitely started an affair with his wife's very young adopted daughter, his step daughter I believe, which ended up ruining his family in many ways.

He was accused of molesting his own daughter.

people who feel strongly about allen being a twisted predator often don't even know the facts. him and mia farrow were never married, and soon-yi is farrow's and andre previn's step daughter.

 

[ZOONAMI]

I thought about bringing Bill Cosby up in my first post but decided against it, but here goes. You can't compare the Bill Cosby and Woody Allen situations. Woody Allen has one accusation that has a mountain of doubt around it while bill Cosby has enough accusers to fill a baseball league. You'd be a fool to doubt Cosby did it but Allen is a much greyer situation.

Yeah this. I think it's much easier to give Allen the benefit of the doubt. Cosby and Polanski nope. People even forgave Polanski even though he's a fucking rapist because he made some decent films. Allen's situation is a lot more of a gray area.

 

[lightskintwin]

i think that's pretty silly. the film will probably be listed as one of the highlights of blanchett's entire career, but for allen it's at best one of better ones he made at the tail end of his.

This.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Because he's easily one of the best of all time at what he does and the justice system isn't keeping him from working, so the moral judgment from the nice people at Daily Beast doesn't matter for shit.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Money/further their career. It's a dirty business, everyone knows that.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

They just know the name and are ignorant, willingly or not, to the darker aspects of the person.

 

[……forgetit]

My point was the qualifier of "he was never convicted" and "accusations are just that, accusations" can be reeeeeal shifty and really shouldn't be a big influence in these career decisions, as this conversation has shown. "Never convicted" can mean vastly different things.



Agreed. It feels like a lot of actors still clamor to work with Allen but secretly are thinking, "God, I hope this is one of the great ones."

That's fair, I could have worded my initial post better. I guess I should have added that this should be taken on a case by case basis.

 

[Whompa02]

They just know the name and are ignorant, willingly or not, to the darker aspects of the person.

Found the leader of #WoodyGate

 

[SeanC]

Saying "I did a Woody Allen" movie still holds some cache.

It's not a massive payday for anyone, he just gets funding because he gets the names and ensembles because people want that on their imdb profile. They want Allen to call them for the role.

 

[kswiston]

She won her second Oscar working with him. My point is it was a good career move and she probably knew it at the time.

EDIT: Already pointed out, apologies.

And given that her first was a supporting actress statue, that was her big prize.

 

[RedAssedApe]

hollywood thats why

 

[Kill3r7]

Because he is Woody Allen. For the same reason models still work with Terry Richardson.

 

[theclosetfan]

Well there's 1 thing he definitely did and 1 thing he was accused of doing.

He definitely started an affair with his wife's very young adopted daughter, his step daughter I believe, which ended up ruining his family in many ways.

He was accused of molesting his own daughter.

His relationship with Mia Farrow was very weird. They didn't live together and weren't really a family unit.

The molestation charges came in the middle of a extremely heated and very public custody battle. There's no credible evidence that it actually happened, just he said she said.

It also has to be constantly pointed out that Woody's "biological" son with Mia Farrow is the spitting image of Frank Sinatra, to the point of sheer absurdity.

Odd people, odd circumstances. But this is not, and never was, a Bill Cosby situation.

 

[ChubbyHuggs]

Because he is Woody Allen. For the same reason models still work with Terry Richardson.

Came to name drop Terry. Models and actors have done shoots with him. Shit, even the President has.

 

[watershed]

His relationship with Mia Farrow was very weird. They didn't live together and weren't really a family unit.

The molestation charges came in the middle of a extremely heated and very public custody battle. There's no credible evidence that it actually happened, just he said she said.

It also has to be constantly pointed out that Woody's "biological" son with Mia Farrow is the spitting image of Frank Sinatra, to the point of sheer absurdity.

Odd people, odd circumstances. But this is not, and never was, a Bill Cosby situation.

Yeah it's complicated and I don't see him similar to Cosby at all. But his affair with his now wife did ruin his family. He and Mia had a couple(?) kids together and they're all estranged now. The whole thing is odd.

 

[Ultima_5]

I never got why woody Allen is always assumed to be guilty. If he was, he would've been charged and found guilty.

 

[uncelestial]

Because Woody's worst crime appears to be marrying the adopted daughter of his ex-girlfriend, Mia Farrow, and staying married to her for nearly 30 years and counting.

The accusations of child abuse don't make a lot of sense, never had a witness or evidence, appeared coerced, were doubted by other family members who were there, were plausibly motivated by revenge, and most importantly, did not result in any charges being filed.

Woody is not comparable to Pulanski or Cosby.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Found the leader of #WoodyGate

I've got your woodygate

 

[jph139]

I never got why woody Allen is always assumed to be guilty. If he was, he would've been charged and found guilty.

Probably because he started hooking up with his then-girlfriend's ~19 year-old daughter while in his 50s, after a lifetime of making movies with elements of "Woody Allen self-insert bangs a teenage girl" strung through them.

Shit's sketchy. Makes you take those sort of allegations seriously even if, as noted, he's been acquitted in the eyes of the law.

And in fairness he's been married to said girlfriend's daughter for like 20 years now, so, I mean, not exactly predatory behavior.