Cackling Intensifies: Publishers Keep Rejecting Woody Allen’s New Memoir
Disgraced director Woody Allen has been attempting to shop around his newest memoir, but with everyone finally realizing that associating with him is toxic, it’s having a hard time finding a publishing house. Good.
According to the New York Times, Allen has been quietly trying to sell the memoir over the last year, only to be met with indifference or hard passes, according to executives at four major publishing houses. This is no doubt a result of the #MeToo movement as Allen has already been published before, including essays and plays. Despite his bad reputation pre-#MeToo, there were enough people who respected him as a “visionary” that they were willing to excuse the allegations against him. Through Dylan Farrow’s bravery and the #MeToo movement picking up steam, people are more willing to openly disown Allen—not everyone, but a lot of people.
Allen has lost the status of a creator whose work would have been rewarded with a bidding war or a six-figure deal, at least in the States. Variety notes that Allen’s reputation is a little less tarnished overseas, since he is in pre-production on a film with a Spanish producer, and it might be possible that a French publisher is interested in the work. Considering how some French actresses and filmmakers have talked about the #MeToo movement, it’s not totally unsurprising, but disappointing. We shouldn’t forget how Spanish actor Javier Bardem called Allen’s treatment a “public lynching” and said he would work with him again if asked.
Daphne Merkin, a long time friend of Allen, told the Times that Allen said has been working on this latest memoir for a long time:
“He’s not one to set the record straight, but presumably, the memoir is his side of things. He’s the kind of person who soldiers on, and someone whose work is his nutrient. Whatever vicissitudes he’s been exposed to, I think he keeps his own counsel about how all this affects and doesn’t affect him.”
Yeah, I’m not as concerned about who Allen keeps in his war council, but his semi-exile from society is an indicator that, in some cases, the #MeToo movement is working. Allen is not in jail, and sadly, he still has loud supporters, but the stigma is sticking and it’ll make things harder for him as he spends the rest of his miserable life trying to make okay movies again. Meanwhile, while Allen does have every right to attempt to tell his side of the story, that doesn’t mean he should get paid six figures for it.
Allen will still be making royalties off of his other known works, so if you are worried about him for some strange reason, I wouldn’t waste too much energy on your concern.
(via Variety, image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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