Ronan Farrow Cuts Ties With Book Publisher After It Buys Woody Allen’s Memoir
Zack Sharf
Ronan Farrow has announced on social media he is cutting ties with Hachette, the publisher behind his high profile 2019 book “Catch and Kill.” Hachette imprint Grand Central Publishing announced this week it had picked up distribution rights to Woody Allen’s memoir “Apropos of Nothing” and would be releasing it in the U.S. on April 7. Ronan Farrow’s sister, Dylan, has accused Woody Allen of molesting her when she was a child. Dylan’s allegation against Allen resurfaced during the height of the #MeToo movement. Ronan Farrow says he can no longer work with Hachette “in good conscience” after they acquired Allen’s memoir while they were still working together on the release of “Catch and Kill,” which just so happens to recount Farrow’s investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse.
“I was disappointed to learn through press reports that Hachette, my publisher, acquired Woody Allen’s memoir after other major publishers refused to do so and concealed the decision to me and its own employees while we were working on ‘Catch and Kill,’ a book about how powerful men, including Woody Allen, avoid accountability for sexual abuse,” Farrow writes in a statement. “Hachette did not fact check the Woody Allen book. My sister Dylan has never been contacted to respond to any denial or mischaracterization of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Woody Allen, a credible allegation maintained for almost three decades, backed up by contemporaneous accounts and evidence.”
Farrow continues, “It’s wildly unprofessional in multiple obvious directions for Hachette to behave this way. But it also shows a lack of ethics and compassion for victims of sexual abuse, regardless of any personal connection or breach of trust here. I’ve encouraged Hachette, out of respect for its readers, authors, and reputation, to conduct a thorough fact check of Woody Allen’s account, in particular any claim that implies my sister is not telling the truth. I’ve also told Hachette that a publisher that would conduct itself in this way is one I can’t work with in good conscience.”
Ronan Farrow’s statement arrived hours after Dylan Farrow issued her own critical thoughts on Allen’s upcoming memoir, calling it “deeply unsettling” and an “utter betrayal” of Ronan Farrow’s work. Allen’s memoir could be one of two new works released in 2020 as the director has also wrapped production on his next film, “Rifkin’s Festival.”
