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Dylan Farrow criticizes publisher of Woody Allen memoir

"This provides yet another example of the profound privilege that power, money and notoriety affords," Farrow said of the publication of "Apropos of Nothing."
Image: Dylan Farrow and Mia Farrow
Dylan Farrow and Mia Farrow at the 2016 Time 100 Gala in New York in April 2016. Ben Gabbe / Getty Images file

Dylan Farrow has criticized the publication of a forthcoming memoir by her adoptive father, Woody Allen — who she has accused of sexually assaulting her as a child — as "deeply upsetting" and "an utter betrayal."

"This provides yet another example of the profound privilege that power, money and notoriety affords," Farrow, 34, wrote on Twitter Monday. "Hachette’s complicity in this should be called out for what it is and they should have to answer for it.”

Farrow's statement came hours after an announcement from Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, stating that it planned to release Allen's memoir in April. The book, "Apropos of Nothing," is "a comprehensive account of Allen's life, both personal and professional, and describes his work in films, theater, television, nightclubs, and print," according to the publisher.

Farrow, 34, is the sister of journalist Ronan Farrow, whose reporting on disgraced Hollywood mogul and recently convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein helped launch the #MeToo movement.

She added that Hachette's publication of Allen's memoir was not only "deeply upsetting" to her personally, but an "utter betrayal" of her brother, whose detailed reporting on Weinstein was published in the book "Catch and Kill," released by Hachette last year.

"For the record, I was never contacted by any fact checkers to verify the information in this 'memoir,' demonstrating an egregious abdication of Hachette's most basic responsibility," Farrow wrote. "On the other hand, my story has undergone endless scrutiny and has never been published without extensive fact-checking."

Ronan Farrow said he learned about the Allen book through press reports.

"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 from me and its own employees while we were working on Catch and Kill," he said in a statement posted on Twitter Tuesday evening.

"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 the 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 said.

Hachette and Dylan Farrow did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.

Allen has consistently denied sexually abusing Farrow, whom he adopted with the actress Mia Farrow. Allen and Mia Farrow were in a long-term relationship until she discovered he was having an affair with her other adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, when she found nude photos of Previn in Allen’s home. Allen and Previn later married.

Though a prosecutor said he had "probable cause" to prosecute Allen on charges that he had sexually assaulted Dylan Farrow, Allen was never charged. Allen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Allen reportedly struck a deal with Penguin to publish a memoir in 2003, but the book never materialized. Last year, he pitched a memoir again to major publishers but was met with "hard passes" because of the #MeToo movement, according to four publishers who spoke with The New York Times. Allen has written several books, most recently "Mere Anarchy," in 2007.

In recent years, Allen has been shunned by Hollywood. Last year, Amazon Studios backed out of a production and distribution deal with him. His film "A Rainy Day In New York" was released in Europe last year but not in the U.S. Several actors, including Colin Firth, Rachel Brosnahan and Timothée Chalamet, have said that they will no longer work with him.

Dylan Farrow is also slated to release a book this year. "Hush," a fantasy young adult novel, will be published by St. Martin's Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan, in October.