This undated image released by Frances Silver shows Dylan Farrow, daughter of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow. Farrow recently wrote an open letter to The New York Times detailing alleged abuse by Woody Allen when she was 7-year-old.Frances Silver/The Associated Press
Dylan Farrow is standing firm in her claim that she was sexually assaulted as a child by her adoptive father Woody Allen
In a new interview with People magazine, Farrow says it wasn't easy for her to pen the open letter published last weekend in The New York Times.
"It took all my courage and all of my emotional fortitude to do what I did this week in the hope that it would put the truth out there," said Farrow in the update interview. "That is my only ammunition. I don't have money or publicists or limos or fancy apartments in Manhattan. All I have is the truth and that is all I put out there."
Now 28 and a happily married writer, Farrow tells People that when she spoke out for the first time about the allegations of abuse in an article published in the October issue of Vanity Fair, her comments were overshadowed by the suggestion that her brother Ronan might in fact be the biological child of Frank Sinatra instead of Allen.
Farrow says the Ronan revelation left her with the feeling that "no one cared," according to a family friend.
In the same People interview, Farrow says she gave a great deal of thought to coming forward with her story in the letter in which she expounded on the same allegations made in the Vanity Fair article.
"For as long as I could remember," she said, "my father had been doing things to me that I didn't like."
Allen, 78, has denied any charges of abuse. His representative told People: "Mr. Allen has read the article and found it untrue and disgraceful."
During the course of an extensive criminal investigation and bitter custody battle in 1992 and 1993, the Oscar-winning director steadfastly maintained his claim that he never molested Dylan and accused Dylan's adoptive mother, actress Mia Farrow, of being vindictive and of coaching Dylan to tell a false story.
Ms. Farrow, 68, has emphatically denied her former partner's version of events.
For the record, Allen was never charged with molestation. In 1993, then-Connecticut state attorney Frank Maco announced that while he found "probable cause" to prosecute Allen, he dropped the case because Dylan was too "fragile" to deal with a trial that would further "traumatize" her. At the time, Maco said Mia agreed with the decision.
At the same time, a panel of investigators from the Yale-New Haven Hospital consulting on the investigation said that Dylan often confused fantasy with reality and that she had not been abused.
In the People interview, Farrow addresses the counter-charges from several Allen defenders claiming that she wrote the letter to the Times with the goal of sabotaging her father, whose latest film Blue Jasmine is nominated for three Oscars. She also points out that some other people say she wrote the letter to vindicate her mother.
"I've been hearing that a lot," she said. "I'm happy to answer that. My intention in writing that piece was to put the truth on paper from a voice that was not able to speak before."
Farrow also took the opportunity to tell the world that there's nothing wrong with her current powers of recall.
"People are saying that I am not actually remembering what I remember," she said. "People are saying that my 'evil mother' brainwashed me because they refuse to believe that my sick, evil father would ever molest me, because we live in this society where victim blaming and inexcusable behaviour – this taboo against shaming the famous at the expense of their victims – is accepted and excused."
According to Farrow, her personal flashpoint moment occurred on Jan. 12, the evening of the Golden Globes, which chose to bestow the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement to her adoptive father.
In keeping with his famously reclusive reputation, Allen chose not to attend the event to receive the honour. The award was accepted on his behalf by onetime creative muse and girlfriend Diane Keaton.
That same night, Ronan Farrow caused an uproar on Twitter with a tweet that said, "Missed the Woody Allen tribute – did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?"
Says Farrow: "After the Golden Globes, my brother Ronan showed immense bravery for standing up for the family and I realized it was my turn to stand up and to tell the truth."
In the update, Farrow is less endeared with her brother Moses Farrow, who spoke to People earlier this week and said that his sister's sexual-abuse allegations were simply untrue.
"Of course Woody did not molest my sister," said Moses, 36.
But that's not how Dylan remembers it: "It's lies. It's all lies," she told People. "My memories are true. What happened to me as a little girl … is my cross to bear. But I will not see my family dragged down like this. I can't stay silent when my family needs me."
In recent days, Mia Farrow has declined to respond to Moses' accusations, but tweeted, "I love my daughter. I will always protect her. A lot of ugliness is going to be aimed at me. But this is not about me. It's about her truth."
And in the final take, Dylan Farrow says her primary goal is to get the truth out there, and help other sexual abuse victims in the process.
"I am hoping to help at least one person out there," she said. "And that's why I spoke out."