Drew Barrymore To Dylan Farrow: I Was ‘Gaslit’ When It Came To Woody Allen

Drew Barrymore says to Dylan Farrow during a recent conversation on the actor’s talk show that she believes that lives have chapters — and Barrymore has apparently turned a page when it comes to director Woody Allen.

On Monday, the “Santa Clarita Diet” star had a candid conversation with Farrow, 35, the daughter of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, about her new YA novel, “Hush,” managing trauma and the recent HBO docu-series “Allen v. Farrow” on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”

Barrymore started the conversation by reflecting on her own relationship with Allen, whom Farrow accused of molesting her in 1992. It is an allegation that Farrow has maintained about her adoptive father since she was a child.

Barrymore, 46, admitted to Farrow on her show that she — like many others in the film industry — once willfully ignored the allegations Farrow made against the once-celebrated director.

“I worked with Woody Allen,” Barrymore told Farrow. “I did a film with him in 1996 called ‘Everyone Says I Love You,’ and there was no higher career calling card than to work with Woody Allen. Then I had children, and it changed me because I realized that I was one of the people who was basically gaslit into not looking at a narrative beyond what I was being told, and I see what is happening in the industry now, and that is because of you making that brave choice. So, thank you for that.”

Farrow appeared to be touched by Barrymore’s words.

“Hearing what you just said, I’m trying not to cry right now,” Farrow replied. “It’s just so meaningful because it’s easy for me to say, ‘Of course you shouldn’t work with him. He’s a jerk, he’s a monster,’ but I just find it incredibly brave and incredibly generous that you would say to me that my story, and what I went through, was important enough to you to reconsider that.”

The two women also spoke about “Allen v. Farrow,” the docu-series that centers on Farrow’s allegations of sexual assault against Allen. Farrow told the “Charlie’s Angels” star that the experience of working on the project has opened up the conversation about her abuse with her family. Farrow also admits that she was “shocked” that her mother and siblings Fletcher Previn and journalist Ronan Farrow agreed to participate in “Allen v. Farrow.”

“The documentary has led to greater communication between us as a result, I think, which is interesting,” she said. “We wouldn’t talk about it to each other, so talking about it publicly, it just seemed absolutely incomprehensible.”

As for her siblings who didn’t participate in the project, Farrow says she doesn’t hold any hard feelings.

“Gradually, more and more of my siblings signed on, and a few of them didn’t,” she says. “I’ve spoken to them about that, too, and I respect that decision as well.”

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.