Bill Maher welcomed Katie Couric onto his “Club Random” podcast and passionately defended Woody Allen while the two discussed canceled artists in Hollywood. Maher said “I don’t think he committed that crime” in reference to Dylan Farrow’s molestation allegation against Allen, adding: “There was two police investigations that exonerated him.”
“There’s these actors who won’t work with him anymore and some of them made movies with him are saying, ‘I regret doing that.’ What a bunch of pussies!” Maher said. “First of all, it’s a very improbable crime that they’re accusing him of. Plainly, the other party had motivation and [was] vindictive.”
Maher referenced the HBO documentary “Allen v. Farrow” and said it was all from Mia Farrow’s point of view, alluding that it can’t fully be trusted as an unbiased account of what allegedly happened between Woody Allen and his adopted daughter, Dylan.
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“So first of all, I just flat-out believe him,” Maher said. “I believe a 57-year-old man didn’t suddenly become a child molester in the middle of a divorce proceeding and a custody battle in a house full of adults in broad daylight.”
Couric pushed back against Maher’s defense, telling the podcast host that there’s “some pretty damning” evidence out there that supports Dylan Farrow’s molestation claim. Couric said Allen’s desire for his girlfriends to “dress up in little anklets and Mary Janes and baby doll dresses” was one such piece of evidence.
“Do you think he’s the only guy who likes that? Really?” Maher questioned. “Do you think he’s the first guy who wanted his girlfriend to dress in anklets and baby doll [dresses]? That’s what we grew up on, that’s what we find sexy…that doesn’t make you a pervert.”
Both Maher and Couric admitted they don’t know the truth when it comes to the allegation against Allen, to which Maher suggested that “if you don’t know and you have been exonerated by the law” then the filmmaker shouldn’t automatically be a social pariah. However, according to Maher, the “powers that be in the virtual world are just saying, ‘We don’t care. It just feels right that you’re wrong.'”
“I find it very improbable,” Maher added while doubling down on his Allen defense. “Is it possible [Allen did it]? Anything is possible.”
Allen recently released his latest directorial effort “Coup de Chance” in U.S. theaters, although it only opened in small arthouse locations. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year and stars Lou de Laâge, Valérie Lemercier, Melvil Poupaud and Niels Schneider. A thriller in the vein of Allen’s “Match Point,” the movie centers on two former high school friends who meet later in life and start a passionate affair.
Listen to Maher and Couric’s full episode of the “Club Random” podcast here.
