Dylan Farrow wrote an open letter to Woody Allen in the New York Times, documenting his sexual abuse. It’s the first time Dylan has written publicly about the event.

What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies…

 

Last week, Woody Allen was nominated for his latest Oscar. But this time, I refuse to fall apart. For so long, Woody Allen’s acceptance silenced me. It felt like a personal rebuke, like the awards and accolades were a way to tell me to shut up and go away. But the survivors of sexual abuse who have reached out to me – to support me and to share their fears of coming forward, of being called a liar, of being told their memories aren’t their memories – have given me a reason to not be silent, if only so others know that they don’t have to be silent either…

 

What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis CK? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?…

Today, Cate Blanchett washes her hands of the accusations, responding:

It’s obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some sort of resolution and peace

Alec Baldwin, in his typical aggressive style, also claims this mess is none of his business, Tweeting:

What the f&@% is wrong w u that u think we all need to b commenting on this family’s personal struggle?

So the sexual abuse of a seven year old child is a family matter? Funny, that’s the same claim people make about domestic violence. It’s private. Don’t get involved. Stay out. This is none of your business. I’m just curious: Whose business is it when children are sexually abused?

On Twitter, I follow Wall Street Journal writer Rachel Dodes Wortman. She ReTweeted this from Mark Harris, a journalist for EW:

A) “Innocent until proven guilty” and “All accusations are true” don’t go well together. B) I don’t know. C) YOU don’t know. So don’t guess?

To which I responded:

Do you know what happened during that trial? ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ when justice system doesnt protect?

Harris Tweets me back:

There was no trial. There was no charge.

My response:

presiding judge found evidence inconclusive, and felt that

their report had been “sanitized”and “colored by their loyalty to Mr. Allen.

I’ve received more Tweets, like these:

There’s a time that finally the world needs to step back because we can’t be helpful. We just complicate matters

If you can solve this, if you know the truth, you personally, it is your business. Otherwise you are intruding.

That you don’t see that this is not our business is your issue, not mine.

How long are we going to look the other way when children are sexually abused? Dylan’s letter is in a blog by New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof. Kristof is also the author, with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, of Half the Sky. In that book, they write:

When a prominent dissident was arrested in China, we would write a front-page article; when 100,000 girls were kidnapped and trafficked into brothels, we didn’t even consider it news.

What happened to Dylan Farrow, and girls everywhere, around the world matters. It isn’t just our business, it’s our moral imperative to listen.

Lena Dunham, creator and star of the TV show “Girls,” feels differently than Blanchett and Baldwin, Tweeting:

“To share in this way is courageous, powerful and generous.” She adds: “Grateful my timeline is full of so much love and respect for Dylan.