U.S. director Woody Allen poses on May 11, 2016 during a photocall for the film “Cafe Society” ahead of the opening of the 69th Cannes Film Festival, southern France. Image: AFP/Alberto Pizzoli
The autobiography of filmmaker Woody Allen was released in the United States Monday, swiftly finding a new home after its original publisher pulled out amid protests over abuse allegations.
New York-based Arcade Publishing announced it has acquired world rights to the title, “Apropos of Nothing,” and launched it Monday with no advance warning.
Earlier this month publisher Hachette scrapped plans to release the book penned by Allen, 84, who has long been accused of molesting his daughter, and returned all rights to the author.
Hachette had canceled the launch after Allen’s son Ronan Farrow, who is extremely critical of his father, denounced the book group, and staff staged a walkout.
In a statement Monday, Arcade (an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing) said the book was “a candid and comprehensive personal account by Woody Allen of his life,” according to Publishers Weekly.
Allegations that Allen molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was seven years old in the early 1990s have dogged the Oscar-winning filmmaker for decades.
The director of “Annie Hall” and “Manhattan” was cleared of the charges, first leveled by his then-partner Mia Farrow, after two separate months-long investigations, and has consistently denied the abuse. But Dylan, now 34, maintains she was molested.
The unexpected announcement of the book’s release Monday comes more than two weeks ahead of its originally scheduled April 7 launch from Hachette’s Grand Central Publishing subsidiary.
Ronan Farrow, himself a high-profile investigative journalist and bestselling author, had led the backlash to those plans, saying he would no longer work with Hachette if it went ahead.
Ronan has long defended Dylan, who renewed her accusations against Allen in the wake of the #MeToo movement in early 2018.
Dozens of Hachette company employees in New York walked out in protest at the decision to publish the memoir.
But some had criticized Hachette’s withdrawal as censorship, including bestselling author Stephen King.
“The Hachette decision to drop the Woody Allen book makes me very uneasy. It’s not him; I don’t give a damn about Mr. Allen. It’s who gets muzzled next that worries me,” he said on Twitter.
According to The New York Times, the book contains a post-script from Allen accusing Hachette of “cowering.”
“Hachette read the book and loved it and despite me being a toxic pariah and menace to society, they vowed to stand firm should things hit the fan,” he wrote. “When actual flak did arrive they thoughtfully reassessed their position, concluding that perhaps courage was not the virtue it was cracked up to be and there was a lot to be said for cowering.” JB
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