mobanmarketAmazon has claimed Woody Allen "sabotaged" its efforts to distribute his latest film because he "failed to grasp the gravity" of the ‘MeToo’ movement.
The award-winning director sued Amazon Studios in February for $68 million (£52 million) for breach of contract after the company abandoned plans to release a four-movie deal.
Amazon severed ties with Allen in June, citing controversial comments he had made and a new focus on allegations that he sexually abused his daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992. Allen has always denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.
The company responded to Allen’s lawsuit in a court filing on Wednesday, saying it was "justified" to terminate its deal, which was entered into in August 2017, two months before allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein sparked the ‘MeToo’ movement and a wider backlash against abuse in the entertainment industry.
Allen, 83, then "made a series of public comments suggesting that he failed to grasp the gravity of the issues or the implications for his own career", Amazon said.
The company quoted Allen discussing the ‘MeToo’ movement in which he said: “You don’t want it to lead to a witch-hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself.”
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
It also suggested Allen had expressed sympathy for Weinstein when he described the case as "very sad for everybody involved".
Months later, in January 2018, Allen’s daughter Dylan again alleged he had abused her. In response, the director accused his daughter of "cynically using" MeToo for attention.
He later said he "should be the poster boy for the Me Too movement" because he had "only (been) accused by one woman in a child custody case".
His comments came as Amazon was trying to promote his film Wonder Wheel, "effectively sabotaging those efforts", the company said.
Is Woody Allen’s career over?
It went on to highlight the reaction from the film industry, which saw a number of actors express their regret in working with Allen and promising to never do so again.
Rachel Brosnahan, Colin Firth and Michael Caine are among those to say they would never work with Allen again.
"Understood in the broader context, Allen’s actions and their cascading consequences ensured that Amazon could never possibly receive the benefit of its four-picture agreement (despite already having paid Allen a 10 million-dollar advance upon signing)," the company said.
"As a result, Amazon was justified in terminating its relationship with Allen."
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