Alec Baldwin has been one of the only celebrities to publicly and vehemently defend Woody Allen against accusations of molestation made by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. Farrow has maintained for decades that Allen sexually abused her as a child, and Allen has maintained for just as long — when he’s acknowledged it at all — that he is innocent. Baldwin recently posted a series of tweets in which he called the accusations “unfair and sad,†saying, “Is it possible to support survivors of pedophilia and sexual assault/abuse and also believe that WA is innocent? I think so.†Today, the actor posted a few more tweets on the topic, this time comparing Farrow to a character in To Kill a Mockingbird that lied about being raped, setting up the backdrop of the entire book, the trial of Tom Robinson.
If you haven’t read To Kill a Mockingbird in a while, Mayella Ewell is eventually exposed as a liar in the trial of Tom Robinson, and it turns out that rather than being raped by him, Tom actually rebuffed the advances Mayella made at him. This made her angry, so she accused him of rape out of vengeance. A crucial aspect of Mayella’s character that Baldwin might have forgotten, however, is that after the death of her mom, a teenage Mayella is made to fill the role of wife and is roped into an incestuous relationship with her abusive, alcoholic father. He rapes and beats her, and she keeps home and takes care of the children. So, in summary, Alec Baldwin tried to make a point about how Dylan Farrow wasn’t sexually abused by her father by comparing her to a literary character … that was continuously sexually abused by her father. And the resolution of Tom’s trial hinged on that reveal. So, that is awkward.
Update: In response to Baldwin’s remarks, Farrow issued the following statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s interesting that Mr. Baldwin chooses to dismiss the judgments of Justice Wilk and Prosecutor Frank Maco, who reviewed ALL of the evidence instead of just selected bits and pieces. However, considering that Mr. Baldwin confidently invoked Mayella Ewell to make his point while forgetting that it’s been hotly debated that she was, in fact, raped by her father, demonstrates that perhaps Baldwin is just not a stickler for details.â€