#METOO 

Publisher drops plans to release Woody Allen's memoir
WORKERS WALK OUT AGAINST THE BOOK
(Reuters) - The publisher of filmmaker Woody Allen’s forthcoming memoir said on Friday it had scrapped plans to release the book following criticism and a walkout by staff over a longstanding allegation he molested his daughter.

Hachette Book Group had previously announced it would debut Allen’s book, “A Propos of Nothing,” in April. Allen has repeatedly denied the accusation that he molested his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in 1992.

On Thursday, dozens of Hachette employees in New York staged a midday walkout to protest the company’s decision to publish Allen’s book.
In a statement on Friday, Hachette said it had “extensive” conversations with staff and others and concluded that publishing the book “would not be feasible.”

“The decision to cancel Mr. Allen’s book was a difficult one,” the statement said. “At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly. We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books.”

Representatives for Allen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dylan Farrow and her brother, journalist Ronan Farrow, had both criticized Hachette’s plan to release their father’s book. The decision was “deeply upsetting to me,” Dylan Farrow wrote on Twitter earlier this month.

Allen has denied the allegation by Dylan Farrow, which was also made by her mother, Mia Farrow, who appeared in Allen films and was his longtime partner.

Allen has not been charged. He is the winner of four Oscars, including best director for 1977’s “Annie Hall,” which also won best picture.

Hachette Book Group is a unit of Lagardere SCA (LAGA.PA)

NEW YORK (AP) — Woody Allen’s publisher has decided to cancel the planned release of his memoir “Apropos of Nothing.”

The announcement Friday by Hachette Book Group followed days of criticism focused on allegations that Allen 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 announced.

“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 has denied any wrongdoing and was never charged after two separate investigations in the 1990s. But the allegations have received new attention in the #MeToo era.

Allen’s agreement with Hachette meant that he briefly shared a publisher with one of his biggest detractors, his son Ronan Farrow, whose “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, capitalized on by Hachette, gave voice to numerous survivors of sexual assault by powerful men,” Dylan Farrow said in a statement Monday hours after details of the book were released by The Associated Press.

Ronanarrow followed up a day later, calling Hachette’s decision “wildly F unprofessional.” Both he and his sister complained that the publisher had not reached out to fact check their father’s book.