Woody Allen has accused Timothée Chalamet of denouncing him to boost his chances of winning an Oscar.
The 84-year-old filmmaker – who has repeatedly denied allegations he molested former partner Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Dylan – found the actor and his co-stars Elle Fanning and Selena Gomez "a pleasure to work with" on ‘A Rainy Day in New York’, but claimed the 24-year-old star said afterwards he regretted working with the director and wouldn’t do so again because he’d been advised it would look good for his Academy Awards campaign for ‘Call Me by Your Name;.
Woody wrote in his new memoir ‘Apropos of Nothing’: "All three leads in ‘Rainy Day’ were excellent and a pleasure to work with.
"Timothée afterward publicly stated he regretted working with me and was giving the money to charity, but he swore to my sister he needed to do that as he was up for an Oscar for Call Me by Your Name, and he and his agent felt he had a better chance of winning if he denounced me, so he did."
Timothée – who ultimately lost out on Best Actor to ‘Darkest Hour’ star Gary Oldman – donated his fee for the film to Time’s Up, The LGBT Center in New York City, and RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), while co-stars Rebecca Hall and Selena made donations to Time’s Up and their legal defense fund.
Woody insisted he didn’t "regret" working with the actor but wouldn’t be saying goodbye to any of the money he made on the film.
He continued: "Anyhow, I didn’t regret working with him and I’m not giving any of my money back."
The filmmaker praised Elle for her "honest" reply when she was asked to speak out against him.
He added: "Selena was adorable. She had all the hard stuff to do, and she knocked it off beautifully.
"Elle is simply a great natural talent like [Diane] Keaton. When reporters pressured her, trying hard to get her to say she regretted working with me, she told them she wasn’t even born when the allegation was made and has no opinion. An honest reply."
The movie has never been screened in the US and original distributor Amazon terminated its four-film deal with the director and scrapped the release of ‘Rainy Day’.
Woody said: "I still can’t figure out how they could be so utterly convinced.
"Their gesture might’ve been meaningful if indeed I were guilty of something, but since I was not, they were just persecuting an innocent man and helping to confirm Dylan’s implanted memory."
Woody Allen: Timothée Chalamet spoke out to win Oscar
