Alec Baldwin has shared his plan to interview Woody Allen, the scandal-ridden filmmaker who has been accused of sexual abuse by his daughter Dylan Farrow. He plans to conduct the interview on Instagram Live on Tuesday morning.
The actor shared the news in a video posted to Instagram. In the clip, Baldwin holds up and shows off a copy of Allen’s book of short stories Zero Gravity. He later jokingly whispers Allen’s name, presumably referring to the decision many people in Hollywood have made to distance themselves from the once highly esteemed director. “I love you Woody,” Baldwin muses in the clip.
The video comes alongside a caption daring readers to judge Baldwin for his decision.
“Let me preface this by stating that I have ZERO INTEREST in anyone’s judgments and sanctimonious posts here. I am OBVIOUSLY someone who has my own set of beliefs and COULD NOT CARE LESS about anyone else’s speculation. If you believe that a trial should be conducted by way of an HBO documentary, that’s your issue,” Baldwin writes.
The HBO documentary he references, Allen V. Farrow, was released in 2021 and directed by Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick, alongside the unflinching work of lead reporter Amy Herdy.
The four-episode series examines Farrow’s 1992 allegations against her father, as well as Allen’s highly controversial marriage to his Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn in 1997. Though Allen and his team declined to comment for the documentary, the filmmakers have previously insisted that Allen is “welcome to do an interview” with them at any time.
Baldwin’s decision to interview Allen comes just days after another (rich, old, white) guy publicly argued that perhaps Allen shouldn’t have it so bad. Last week, author James Patterson explained that he disagreed with a walkout staged at his publisher Little, Brown and Company in 2020 to protest the release of Woody Allen’s memoir.
Patterson, who later apologized for other comments he made in the interview, said that he “hated” the walkout and thinks Allen has “the right to tell his own story.” Although legions of commenters on Baldwin’s post made it clear they were disappointed in his choice and would not tune in, perhaps he can at least count on a view from Patterson.