Dylan Farrow 'unbelievably overwhelmed' after publisher's employees stage protest over Woody Allen memoir
Dylan and Ronan Farrow are far from the only ones who have a problem with Woody Allen’s upcoming memoir.
Following the Monday announcement that Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, will publish the director’s book, Apropos of Nothing, in April, employees walked out of the company’s New York City office in protest on Thursday afternoon, according to multiple reports. Page Six said it happened when the CEO attempted to have a town hall meeting with employees.
75 plus employees of Hachette are standing in solidarity with @ronanfarrow, @realdylanfarrow and survivors of sexual assault and walked out of the Hachette offices today in protest of Woody Allen’s memoir. #HachetteWalkout #LittleBrownWalkout pic.twitter.com/wTNi3c7gy8
— Kendra Barkoff Lamy (@kabarkoff) March 5, 2020
They object to the publication, because the Blue Jasmine director’s daughter, Dylan Farrow, has long claimed that she was molested by her father in 1992, when she was 7. Allen has always denied the allegation.
After news about the memoir first broke, Dylan, whose mom is actress Mia Farrow, immediately issued a statement about it being “deeply disappointing.” She called it an “utter betrayal” of Ronan, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning book about sexual predators, Catch and Kill, was published by Hachette-owned Little, Brown and Company, in October. Dylan said she had never been contacted to verify any information.
On Thursday, Dylan said the walkout left her “incredibly grateful” and thanked the protestors “from the bottom of my heart.”
Unbelievably overwhelmed and so incredibly grateful for the solidarity demonstrated by @HachetteUS and @littlebrown employees today. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
— Dylan Farrow (@RealDylanFarrow) March 5, 2020
Dylan’s brother Ronan, who is also estranged from his Oscar-winning father, responded to the walkout by amplifying the social media posts of supporters.
The #littlebrownwalkout marks a real and important shift in publishing. The next generations will not stand for this utter lack of integrity. Proud too of Grand Central employees who are adamantly against this book deal. pic.twitter.com/luB3iSULPw
— Kiele Raymond (@kieleraymond) March 5, 2020
There's been a lot of exhausting stuff going on in the publishing industry recently, but it gives me SO much hope to see fellow book professionals step up and take action. Thank you to the employees at Hachette for standing up for survivors of sexual violence.
— Sarah Pannenberg (@SarahPannenberg) March 5, 2020
The Hachette employees walking out today—in imprints like @RonanFarrow publisher Little, Brown and the proposed Allen memoir imprint Grand Central—are taking great personal risks to challenge the decisions of their parent company. They are talented, dedicated, hardworking...
— Tyler King (@TylerAKing) March 5, 2020
As an author working on a book for a Hachette imprint, I stand with @RonanFarrow @RealDylanFarrow and those who walked out today, and I have expressed my severe disappointment to my publisher. #HachetteWalkout https://t.co/KDlKTLTdVc
— Becca (@kbeccaandrews) March 5, 2020
Ronan ended his relationship with his publisher, Little Brown, earlier in the week. He accused executives of having kept plans for Allen’s book from him.
Hachette Book Group did not immediately respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
However, the company gave a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “We respect and understand the perspective of our employees who have decided to express their concern over the publication of this book. We will engage our staff in a fuller discussion about this at the earliest opportunity.”
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