Woody Allen's memoir release canned by publisher days after employees stage walkout

Hachette Book Group decided to cancel the planned release following days of public criticism and a walkout by employees.

US filmmaker Woody Allen attends a press conference in San Sebastian in 2019.

US filmmaker Woody Allen attends a press conference in San Sebastian in 2019. Source: EFE

Woody Allen's publisher has decided to cancel the planned release of his memoir Apropos Of Nothing.

The announcement by Hachette Book Group follows days of criticism focused on allegations that the US film director sexually abused his daughter Dylan Farrow.

On Thursday, dozens of Hachette employees staged a walkout.

"The decision to cancel Mr Allen's book was a difficult one. At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly," the publisher said.
This combination photo shows a book cover image for "Apropos of Nothing," an autobiography by Woody Allen, to be released on April 7. (Grand Central Publishing via AP, left, and AP Photo)
This combination photo shows a book cover image for "Apropos of Nothing," an autobiography by Woody Allen. Source: Grand Central Publishing
"We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books. As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of views can be heard."

Allen's book was scheduled to come out next month.

Allen's agreement with Hachette meant that he briefly shared a publisher with one of his biggest detractors, his son Ronan Farrow, whose book Catch And Kill was released last year by the Hachette division Little, Brown and Company.

"Hachette's publishing of Woody Allen's memoir is deeply upsetting to me personally and an utter betrayal of my brother whose brave reporting, capitalised on by Hachette, gave voice to numerous survivors of sexual assault by powerful men," Dylan Farrow said in a statement on Monday.

Ronan Farrow followed up a day later, calling Hachette's decision "wildly unprofessional".

Both he and his sister complained that the publisher had not reached out to them to fact-check their father's book.

 


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Woody Allen's memoir release canned by publisher days after employees stage walkout | SBS News