Selena Gomez raised eyebrows last year, when news broke she was starring in Woody Allen’s new film A Rainy Day in New York. She’s not the first to do so, either: Ever since Woody’s daughter Dylan Farrow wrote a New York Times open letter in 2014, alleging he molested her at seven years old, many have called for actors — Selena included — to refrain from working with the director.
Even still, Woody’s managed to keep working steadily as a director. Yes, there’s a shift happening in our culture right now surrounding sexual assault — the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements are giving survivors more courage than ever to come forward — but Woody hasn’t really been affected by it. We’re seeing some change, though. Two of Selena’s A Rainy Day in New York costars — Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Hall — revealed on Instagram this week that they’re donating their earnings from the film to Time’s Up. This isn’t a direct denouncement of Woody, but the implication is pretty clear.
And now people are calling for Selena to give a similar statement — something she might not be ready to give. When Billboard asked her about working with Woody last year, she gave a frustratingly evasive response. “To be honest, I’m not sure how to answer — not because I’m trying to back away from it,” she said. “[The Harvey Weinstein allegations] actually happened right after I had started [on the movie]. They popped up in the midst of it. And that’s something, yes, I had to face and discuss. I stepped back and thought, ‘Wow, the universe works in interesting ways.'”
What’s also interesting is that Selena’s mother, Mandy Teefey, claims she advised her daughter against working with Woody. Here’s what Mandy said on Instagram when a fan asked Selena to apologize for working with Woody:
“Sorry, No one can make Selena do anything she doesn’t want to. I had a long talk with her about not working with him and it didn’t click. Her team are amazing people. There is no fall person here. No one controls her. She makes all her own decisions. No matter how hard you try to advise. It falls on deaf ears.”
This pointed statement comes days after Mandy revealed she is “not happy” about Selena rekindling things with her ex Justin Bieber. Why Mandy chose to make this story public is a mystery, but it certainly puts more fire under Selena to talk directly about the Woody situation. We’ll update this post when (and if) she makes a statement.
Taken from GLAMOUR US. Click here to read the original.
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