Dylan Farrow is opening up about the extraordinarily personal and painful video of her as a 7-year-old child disclosing the sexual abuse at the hands of her adoptive father Woody Allen to her mother, Mia Farrow, that will be seen in tonight’s episode of the docuseries “Allen v. Farrow.” She is hoping that people who watch it will do so “with empathy, compassion and an open mind and heart.”
In a lengthy statement (which you can read in full at the bottom), Farrow said that she has “been losing sleep” and is “overcome with anxiety” about showing the world the shocking video of her as a young girl that her mother shared with her when she became an adult.
“It shows me as I was then, a young, vulnerable child. ‘Little Dylan,’ whom I’ve tried ever since to protect,” Farrow said. “Deciding to allow this tape to be viewed now publicly in this way has not been easy. I myself had resisted ever watching it until now. It had been long stored away in a closet. Scared. Buried.”
Farrow said that she almost didn’t offer the filmmakers the video for their use because the idea of being “this vulnerable in public” absolutely terrified her.
“My fear in letting this tape come to light is that I am putting Little Dylan in the court of public opinion,” she said. “While I have been able to take the stones thrown at me as an adult, to think of that happening to this little girl is stomach-churning.”
She, however, decided that it should be used in the docuseries in hopes that it will help others suffering in silence “feel heard, understood and less alone.”
“I hope this tape helps us all find ways to allow painful secrets to come safely out of their closets so we all can heal and move forward in strength and peace. No longer ashamed, buried, scared, sad, and silent.”
You can read her statement in full below:
I’m writing this, because to be totally honest I have been losing sleep and overcome with anxiety. Tonight’s episode of the Allen v. Farrow docuseries features a video of me as a seven-year-old child disclosing my abuse to my mother.
My mother gave me this video when I became an adult to do whatever I wanted with it.
It shows me as I was then, a young, vulnerable child. “Little Dylan,” whom I’ve tried ever since to protect.
Deciding to allow this tape to be viewed now publicly in this way has not been easy. I myself had resisted ever watching it until now. It had been long stored away in a closet. Scared. Buried.
I almost didn’t offer it to the filmmakers, because being this vulnerable in public is absolutely terrifying for me. My fear in letting this tape come to light is that I am putting Little Dylan in the court of public opinion. While I have been able to take the stones thrown at me as an adult, to think of that happening to this little girl is stomach-churning. But I decided to let them share it in hopes that Little Dylan’s voice might now help others suffering in silence feel heard, understood and less alone. And that my testimony might also help parents, relatives, friends, loved ones and the world in general understand first-hand how an abused child might speak and interpret these horrific events.
There’s a third reason as well.
Personally, I had, for decades, pushed “Little Dylan” away as a coping mechanism. So part of my goal in allowing her to now speak is also to try and find some healing for me and my childhood self. It’s an attempt to make them whole again, and find some peace and closure.
Ever since news of her abuse was inadvertently made public, I, my siblings, and my mother have all been subjected to an endless barrage of vitriolic slander and baseless rebuke; derision so painful that I separated myself from her in self-defense. I hid her away in a closet with the tape too – hidden, afraid, sad and hurt.
If you watch this video, I very much hope you will do so with empathy, compassion and an open mind and heart and not use this as an opportunity to attack, turn away, criticize, mock; or to further shun “Little Dylan” and in doing so shame and silence the millions of abused children who are suffering in the world today. This is the most vulnerable part of who I am.
I hope this tape helps us all find ways to allow painful secrets to come safely out of their closets so we all can heal and move forward in strength and peace. No longer ashamed, buried, scared, sad, and silent.
To all other survivors, please know that your truth is valid and there are those who will listen. RAINN is always available at 800-656-4673.
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