Rosie O'Donnell had to tell Woody Allen "no" twice when he offered her a movie role a few years after he was accused of sexual abuse.
Rosie O'Donnell told Woody Allen 'no' twice to movie offer
The former talk show host, 60, was amazed she had to decline the veteran director's repeated requests to star in his 1999 film 'Sweet and Lowdown', even though she had spoken out against him after the allegations of indecent behaviour in 1992.
Appearing on 'The Howard Stern Show', the comedienne recalled: “I had done an HBO special where I said everything about him.
“And then I got on my [talk] show. So it’s the first year of my show [in 1996] and I get a call and they said, ‘He wants you to be in [1999's 'Sweet and Lowdown']. I said, ‘Please send him my HBO special.’ And the woman said, ‘Oh he’s already seen it.’ And I said, ‘Send it anyway with two words: F*** and no.’ And I sent it to him.
“They called back and said, ‘He really wants you to do it. He’d like to talk to you about it.’ I said, ‘I’m not doing it. I’m not working for him or with him and being associated with him.’"
She added how he “had a lot of people under his spell."
Allen was accused by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow of molestation when she was seven years old - allegations he has repeatedly denied.
The scandal hit the headlines again last year following the release of HBO's documentary 'Allen v. Farrow' .
Dylan, her brother Ronan and their mother Mia Farrow all appear in the film. Mia was married to the filmmaker for 12 years between 1980 and 1992.
Woody and his wife Soon-Yi Previn responded to the claims made in the documentary by releasing a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter, which read: "These documentarians had no interest in the truth. Instead, they spent years surreptitiously collaborating with the Farrows and their enablers to put together a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.
"As has been known for decades, these allegations are categorically false. Multiple agencies investigated them at the time and found that, whatever Dylan Farrow may have been led to believe, absolutely no abuse had ever taken place.
"It is sadly unsurprising that the network to air this is HBO – which has a standing production deal and business relationship with Ronan Farrow. While this shoddy hit piece may gain attention, it does not change the facts."
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