What did Woody Allen say about cancel culture? Filmmaker weighs in on retirement and decade old allegations

American filmmaker Woody Allen reflected on being canceled after facing child sex abuse allegations by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow. In an interview published by media outlet Variety, the 87-year-old filmmaker reflected on cancel culture while being present at the Venice Film Festival for the promotion of his film, Coup de Chance.

When asked whether he feels that he had been "canceled" following the child abuse allegations, Allen said:

“I feel if you’re going to be canceled, this is the culture to be canceled by. I just find that all so silly. I don’t think about it. I don’t know what it means to be canceled. I know that over the years everything has been the same for me. I make my movies. What has changed is the presentation of the films."

Dylan Farrow, who was seven years old then, and was the adopted daughter of Woody Allen with Mia Farrow, accused the Oscar-winning filmmaker of sexually abusing her when she was a kid. This accusation has caused the director to be engaged in controversy in recent years.

Dylan made these accusations for the first time in 1992, and Allen has refuted them. She presented her claims as an adult in an open letter that was published in 2014 on the website of The New York Times, as well as in an opinion article that was published in 2016 by The Los Angeles Times, and in an interview that was conducted by CBS in 2018. Allen has not been charged with anything at this time.

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Woody Allen feels things have been the same for him, except for the way films are being presented nowadays

In the same interview, Woody Allen said he does not feel impacted by cancel culture and pretty much follows a similar routine of making films.

“You know, I work and it’s the same routine for me. I write the script, raise the money, make the film, shoot it, edit it, it comes out. The difference is not from cancel culture. The difference is the way they present the films. It’s that that’s the big change.”

Allen's most recent feature, Rifkin's Festival, premiered at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2020. The film was only available in the United States and on streaming sites.

In 2021, HBO featured Allen v. Farrow, a four-part documentary series about the allegations against Allen. The filmmaker said that the HBO documentary was a sloppy hit piece and a "hatchet job" full of lies. As per Variety, Woody Allen said:

"There was nothing to it. The fact that it lingers on always makes me think that maybe people like the idea that it lingers on."

There is currently no set US release date for Coup de Chance. It is slated to be released in France on September 27.