Rebecca Hall Regrets Working With Woody Allen; Donates Salary To Time’s Up Movement

Just last week Greta Gerwig released a statement regarding her past work with Woody Allen in the film “To Rome With Love,” saying she deeply regretted working with the 82-year-old director. Why? Well, Allen has been scuffled in years of controversy involving Dylan Farrow, his longtime partner Mia’s daughter, who has, countless times, alleged that Allen molested her for years. Now that the #MeToo movement is in full-surge, it seems like Allen’s past has resurfaced as a hot-button issue. It’s not just Gerwig.  Other actors that have worked with the iconic director, including Ellen Page, Griffin Newman, and David Krumholtz, have expressed regret in working with him.

You can now add Rebecca Hall to that list. The actress, in a statement released on Instagram, has all but shunned her former director, saying she “deeply regrets” signing on for a role in his next movie “A Rainy Day in New York.” What sparked the outrage? Reading Farrow’s latest statement this past week. Though to be fair, they’re the same claims Farrow has been making for the last decade. But people are finally listening. Hall says she is ready to donate her salary from the film to the Time’s Up legal defense fund.

Here’s the full statement:

“I couldn’t have imagined somewhere stranger to be that day,” Hall writes. “When asked to do so, some seven months ago, I quickly said yes. He gave me one of my first significant roles in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” for which I have always been grateful, it was one day in my hometown – easy. I have, however subsequently realized there is nothing easy about any of this. In the weeks following I have thought very deeply about this decision, and remain conflicted and saddened.”

“I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed,” she continues. “That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry. I regret this decision and wouldn’t make the same one today.

“It’s a small gesture and not one intended as close to compensation,” Hall writes about donating to Time’s Up. “I’ve also signed up, will continue to donate, and look forward to working with and being part of this positive movement towards change not just in Hollywood but hopefully everywhere.”

What does this ever-growing list of actors and actresses condemning Allen mean for his future in moviemaking? We’re not sure yet, but one suspects that if more stars come out to condemn him then he might be hounded out of moviemaking for good, at least in Hollywood. American actors are surely going to think twice about working with him now and it will be really interesting to see what happens with the announcement of Allen’s next film if it happens because the writer/director typically announces and shoots a new film about every 12-16 months.

There would surely be European financiers ready to back his next projects, but a total ousting from Tinstletown would be a significant event. Following the allegations of child abuse, Allen’s much-publicized split with Mia Farrow back in the 1990’s ended in hostility, most of which has been unresolved almost two decades later. Ronan’s brother Moses has vehemently defended his dad over the years saying “My mother [Mia Farrow] drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the family and sexually molesting my sister, and I hated him for her for years. I see now that this was a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi.” However, Ronan Farrow, a reputable journalist, who helped uncover the Harvey Weinstein scandal for The New Yorker a few months ago (and signed a three-year deal this week with HBO to head up investigative documentaries), stands by his assertions that sexual abuse did happen. It’s a polarizing and infuriating scandal and the noise around it is not about to quell anytime soon.