Mar 6, 2020 - Economy

Woody Allen's memoir dropped by publisher

Orion Rummler

In this image, Woody Allen sits in a sweater — Woody Allen in July 2019 in San Sebastián, Spain. Photo: Europa Press News/Europa Press via Getty Images

The memoir of film director Woody Allen, who has been accused of molesting his adopted daughter in the 1990s, was dropped by publisher Hachette Book Group on Friday.

Driving the news: Hachette employees protested the book "Apropos of Nothing" on Thursday by staging a walkout, per the New York Times. The publisher announced on Monday plans for the memoir to be released under its Grand Central brand on April 7.

"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. 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."

— Hachette Book Group spokesperson Jimmy Franco, in a statement to Axios

What they're saying: Allen's son, investigative reporter Ronan Farrow, encouraged Hachette to "conduct a thorough fact check of Woody Allen's account" earlier this week, and said his sister, Dylan Farrow, was never contacted to respond to denials or mischaracterizations of Allen's alleged abuse.

"I was disappointed to learn through press reports that Hachette, my publisher, acquired Woody Allen's memoir after other major publishers refused to do so, and concealed the decision from me and its own employees while we were working on Catch and Kill — a book about how powerful men, including Woody Allen, avoid accountability for sexual abuse. Hachette did not fact check the Woody Allen book."

— investigative reporter Ronan Farrow, in an Instagram post earlier this week

Go deeper: Woody Allen files $68 million against Amazon Studios

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