Key Words: Woody Allen worries of Hollywood ‘witch hunt’ after Weinstein allegations

Filmmaker Woody Allen said Sunday the sexual misconduct scandal that brought down Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was “very sad” for all involved, but that he’s worried the allegations will lead to a “witch hunt.”

“You also don’t want it to lead to a witch hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself. That’s not right either.”

Woody Allen

“The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved,” Allen told the BBC in an interview. “Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that his life is so messed up.”

Allen has faced allegations of sexual impropriety for years. His adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused Allen of sexually abusing her as a child. Her brother Ronan Farrow — a journalist who published a number of the allegations against Weinstein in the New Yorker last week — has supported her claims. Allen has denied the accusations.

In the late 1980s, Allen had an affair with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his girlfriend at the time, actress Mia Farrow. The two later married.

Weinstein was stripped of his membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Saturday, and fired from his production studio, the Weinstein Co., last week after being accused of numerous instances of sexual harassment and assault, including charges of rape.

Read: The Weinstein Co. struggled financially even before Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct allegations

More women have spoken up against Weinstein since the original allegations appeared in the New York Times, along with allegations of systemic sexual harassment and abuse throughout Hollywood. On Thursday, Roy Price, the head of Amazon.com Inc.’s

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  Amazon Studios, was suspended after allegations of sexual harassment.

Allen worked with Amazon Studios on his 2016 series, “Crisis in Six Scenes.”

Allen has worked with Weinstein on a number of projects, including “Mighty Aphrodite” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” and said he had never heard of any allegations against Weinstein.

“No one ever came to me or told me horror stories with any real seriousness,” Allen said to the BBC. “And they wouldn’t, because you are not interested in it. You are interested in making your movie.”