Soon-Yi Previn breaks her long silence on husband Woody Allen and mother Mia Farrow, in controversial interview

(Image credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Andre Previn, has given her first real interview since her scandalous affair and subsequent marriage to Woody Allen, who had been in a long-term relationship with Farrow until Farrow discovered the affair via nude snapshots of Soon-Yi on Allen's mantle. Previn spoke with writer Daphne Merkin at New York about how she and Allen grew close, how they have stayed married for 20 years, Dylan Farrow's allegations that Allen sexually molested her, and Previn's angry and unhappy memories of life with Farrow.

"I was never interested in writing a Mommie Dearest, getting even with Mia — none of that," Previn said. "But what's happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust. [Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim." She and Allen — who participates in many of the interviews — sound surprised their relationship has lasted so long, Merkin writes. "That's what Mia must be the most shocked by," Previn told her. "That is so foreign to her. She probably can't get her mind around that." She insisted, though, that their relationship wasn't about getting "vengeance at Mia."

Merkin, who has written skeptically about the #MeToo movement and related topics, acknowledged that she's "been friends with Allen for over four decades" and says she "can't pretend to know what actually occurred" between him and Dylan. Seven of Farrow's children released a statement defending Farrow as a loving and caring mother and standing with Dylan Farrow, and one of the seven, Ronan Farrow, released his own statement criticizing New York for publishing Merkin's "hit job." (A second of Farrow's 10 adopted children, Moses, sided with Previn's characterization of Farrow; three of the adopted children have died.)

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You can read Previn's account of her childhood and relationship with Allen at New York.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.