The journalist opens up on how his actress mother Mia 'really weathered black-listing and smearing' as she fought her ex who was accused of molesting her adoptive daughter.
- Nov 13, 2019
AceShowbiz - Superstar journalist Ronan Farrow was inspired to uncover sex crimes by his mother Mia Farrow's bravery when accusing his father Woody Allen of abusing Ronan's adoptive sister Dylan Farrow.
Allegations Woody abused Dylan first surfaced in 1992, as part of a bitter child custody dispute, when Mia claimed her daughter had told her the "Annie Hall" director had molested her.
Although Mia won her custody battle, evidence of abuse was ruled to be inconclusive, and Mia has long denounced her ex and his denials, while he continued to work extensively in Hollywood. In an interview with U.K. TV show "Good Morning Britain", Ronan, who was among the journalists who uncovered the Harvey Weinstein scandal, said his work had been inspired by seeing his mother and sister's battle to be believed.
"I grew up around really brave women. My mum is an example of someone who in standing up for my sister at a time when it was not in vogue to support survivors of sexual violence in the public sphere," he said. "She really weathered black-listing and smearing...it is something that informed my understanding of just how tough this issue is and what women go up against when they talk about it."
At the time, Mia and Woody's split also hit the headlines as it was sparked by her discovery he was having an affair with her adoptive daughter Soon-Yi Previn. Dylan repeated her allegations in 2014, and was backed by Ronan, and their claims have received renewed scrutiny in the wake of the #MeToo movement sparked by Ronan and other writers' articles on Harvey's alleged harassment and assaults on multiple women.
The former Miramax chief denies all allegations of non-consensual sex. The story of Ronan's efforts to report the movie mogul's alleged crimes are the subject of his new book, "Catch and Kill", which details the difficulty of obtaining victims' testimony against powerful men.
Discussing the bravery of those who speak out, "It was the bravery of those sources, who had clearly done their 'ethical weeding', that kept me on track...I did my job which was to buckle down and do the reporting, no matter what the storm around you is."
