Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino (above) believes Woody Allen’s adopted daughter’s claims that the famed director sexually molested her when she was a child
Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino believes Woody Allen’s adopted daughter’s claims that the famed director sexually molested her when she was a child, she revealed on Wednesday.
Sorvino, 50, wrote an open letter of apology to Dylan Farrow, 32, for ‘not looking further’ into her allegations that she first revealed to her mother in 1993.
Allen has denied the allegations, which first surfaced as part of a sensational custody dispute between him and Mia Farrow in the early 1990s.
In the letter which was published by Huffington Post, Sorvino writes that she chalked up Dylan Farrow’s claims that Allen sexually abused her when she was a child to ‘an outgrowth of a twisted custody battle between’ the Annie Hall director and his former partner.
‘I am writing to express my belief in and support of you,’ Sorvino writes.
‘I am so sorry, Dylan! I cannot begin to imagine how you have felt, all these years as you watched someone you called out as having hurt you as a child, a vulnerable little girl in his care, be lauded again and again, including by me and countless others in Hollywood who praised him and ignored you,’ she writes.
‘As a mother and a woman, this breaks my heart for you. I am so, so sorry!’


Sorvino, 50, wrote an open letter of apology to Dylan Farrow (left), 32, for ‘not looking further’ into her allegations that she first revealed to her mother in 1993. Allen (right) has denied the allegations
Sorvino writes that it was difficult to publicly renounce Allen, the director who cast her in the 1995 romantic comedy Mighty Aphrodite.
Her work on the film earned her an Academy Award for best supporting actress.
Mighty Aphrodite was a film distributed by Miramax, a company founded by Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein.
Sorvino was one of the first actresses to publicly come forward with accusations that Harvey Weinstein harassed her in Toronto in 1995.

Sorvino writes that it was difficult to publicly renounce Allen, the director who cast her in the 1995 romantic comedy Mighty Aphrodite. Her work on the film earned her an Academy Award for best supporting actress. Sorvino and Allen are seen above in a scene from the film
After she refused his advances, Sorvino said Weinstein had her ‘blacklisted’ by telling other filmmakers that she was difficult to work with, likely costing her roles in Hollywood.
Weinstein has denied the allegations.
Describing herself at the time as a ‘naïve young actress,’ Sorvino writes that she and Allen were ‘friendly though not close’ during the filming of the movie and that during their time together ‘in no way did he ever overstep his bounds with me.’
‘I never personally experienced [with Allen] what has now been described as inappropriate behavior toward young girls,’ Sorvino writes.
‘But this does not excuse my turning a blind eye to your story simply because I wanted desperately for it not to be so.

When Dylan Farrow’s allegations first surfaced in the 1990s, Sorvino writes that she believed it was ‘an outgrowth of a twisted custody battle’ between the Annie Hall director and his former partner, Mia Farrow (seen far right with Allen, Dylan Farrow, and an unidentified child)
‘It is difficult to sever ties and denounce your heroes, your benefactors, whom you fondly admired and felt a debt of gratitude toward for your entire career’s existence,’ she writes.
‘To decide, although they may be fantastically talented and helped you enormously, that you believe they have done things for which there can be no excuse.
‘But that is where we stand today.’
Sorvino reveals in the letter that her decision to come out in support of Dylan Farrow came as a result of her conversations with Dylan’s brother, Ronan Farrow.

Mighty Aphrodite was distributed by Miramax, a company founded by Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein. Sorvino (seen with Harvey Weinstein in 1995) was one of the first actresses to publicly come forward with accusations that Harvey Weinstein harassed her
Ronan Farrow is the journalist who was one of the first to report extensive details about rape allegations against Weinstein in the New Yorker.
Ronan Farrow’s expose about Weinstein included on-the-record details about Sorvino’s experiences in which she allegedly fell victim to the studio executive.
‘I told [Ronan Farrow] I wanted to learn more about you and your situation,’ Sorvino writes.


Sorvino reveals in the letter that her decision to come out in support of Dylan Farrow came as a result of her conversations with Dylan’s brother, journalist Ronan Farrow (left). Ronan Farrow was one of the first to expose rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein (right)
‘He pointed me toward publicly available details of the case I had ruefully never known of, which made me begin to feel the evidence strongly supported your story.
‘That you have been telling the truth all along.’
‘I send you love and inclusion and admiration for your courage all this time,’ Sorvino writes.
‘I believe you!!! I am grateful to you and admire your integrity and bravery, one woman who has had to stand virtually alone all these years speaking her painful truth.
‘You are a true hero, and I stand with you.’
In February 2014, Dylan Farrow wrote an open letter in The New York Times in which she describes the alleged behavior by her adoptive father.
Allen, she writes, would ‘stick his thumb in my mouth’.
He also allegedly made her climb into bed with him ‘when he was in his underwear’ and ‘would place his head in my naked lap and breathe in and breathe out.’
Allen denied the allegations. He wrote his own response to the Times saying that the authorities exonerated him of any wrongdoing.