Sarandon slams Woody Allen over abuse claims

AFP
May 16, 2016 09:52 MYT

US actress Susan Sarandon poses on May 12, 2016 as she takes part in the Women in Motion talks held at the Majestic hotel on the sidelines of the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. - AFP Photo/Valery Hache

Outspoken actress Susan Sarandon said Sunday she "has nothing good to say" about director Woody Allen after claims he abused his daughter surfaced again during the Cannes film festival.

The Hollywood star was speaking in Cannes where she was appearing alongside her "Thelma and Louise" co-star Geena Davis on a panel discussing women's issues in the film industry.

She was asked what she thought of comments by Allen earlier this week that he had no good material for a movie in which an older woman falls in love with a younger man.

"I have nothing good to say about Woody Allen, so I don't think we should go there," she said, before repeating the allegations against him, which the director denies and which have never been proved in court.

The accusation that Allen abused his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow has continued to haunt the 80-year-old director at Cannes, where he premiered his latest film "Cafe Society" on Wednesday.

Sarandon appeared on the red carpet for the premiere.

Ahead of it, Allen's son Ronan Farrow wrote a column slamming the media for failing to ask hard questions about the abuse case, which dates back to the early 1990s.

Then French actor Laurent Lafitte made a rape joke at the opening ceremony which many saw as a stab at Allen. The director said he was not offended and Lafitte later apologised.

In 2014 Dylan, 30, published an open letter in the New York Times outlining her father's alleged abuse.

Her brother Ronan and their mother Mia Farrow have said they decided not to press charges in the 1990s due to Dylan's "fragility" at the time.

Allen later struck back with his own open letter, calling the accusations "ludicrous" and repeating his charge that Mia had "coached" his daughter during their acrimonious split.

The director on Thursday said he had "said everything I had to say about that whole issue" in that column.

- Sarandon tackles Trump -

The 69-year-old Sarandon is known for her strong opinions on everything from the refugee crisis in Europe to the United States presidential elections, where she is a high-profile campaigner for leftist Senator Bernie Sanders.

Sarandon said she thought Sanders still had a shot at the Democratic Party's nomination, and spoke out against Republican nominee Donald Trump, who she said had made America "look ridiculous".

"The thing that is interesting about Trump is that the main things he talks about are absolutely impossible, so they're not that threatening," she said.

"He is obviously not going to build a wall, he is not going to be able to export all the Muslims in the United States."

Sarandon and Davis reflected on their hit 1991 movie by director Ridley Scott about two friends which set off on a road trip and become outlaws, which became seen as the ultimate feminist revenge flick.

"Nobody making it had any idea it would strike a nerve the way it did, positive or negative," said Davis.

Asked if she thought the film would be made by today's Hollywood, Sarandon replied: "Maybe as an animation."

Both actresses bemoaned the fact that the movie had not changed the film industry for women, who get too few strong roles and opportunities to direct major films.

Commenting on the power of cinema, Davis -- once a semi-finalist for the Olympics archery team -- said that after films like "Hunger Games", more young women were now competing in archery in the US than adult men.

#Geena Davis #Outspoken actress Susan Sarandon said Sunday she "has nothing good to say" about director Woody Allen after claims he abused his daughter surfaced again #Thelma and Louise