Woody Allen's Adopted Daughter Describes His Sexual Abuse In Open Letter

In an open letter posted yesterday on a New York Times blog, Woody Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow detailed how the famed filed director sexually abused her when she was seven.

"What's your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house," Farrow, who's now 28, said in the letter.

“He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies. I remember staring at that toy train, focusing on it as it traveled in its circle around the attic. To this day, I find it difficult to look at toy trains," she continued.

Allen and Dylan's mom Mia Farrow started dating in 1980, which led to the adoption of Dylan and her brother Moses seven years later. Abuse allegations began popping up in 1993 but Allen vehemently denied such actions.

"Last week, Woody Allen was nominated for his latest Oscar. But this time, I refuse to fall apart," Farrow explained on the timing of her letter. "It felt like a personal rebuke, like the awards and accolades were a way to tell me to shut up and go away. But the survivors of sexual abuse who have reached out to me – to support me and to share their fears of coming forward, of being called a liar, of being told their memories aren’t their memories – have given me a reason to not be silent, if only so others know that they don't have to be silent either."