Alec Baldwin recently attacked Dylan Farrow on Twitter over decades' old allegations that Woody Allen sexually assaulted her.

CBS News/YouTube

Alec Baldwin compares Dylan Farrow to ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ rape accuser

Baldwin's claim isn't just insensitive, it's also racist.

Photo of Ana Valens 

Ana Valens

Streaming

Posted on Jan 29, 2018   Updated on May 22, 2021, 2:59 am CDT

In a tweet that has since faced online backlash, Alec Baldwin attacked Woody Allen’s adopted daughter Dylan Farrow on Sunday, who alleges the director repeatedly sexually assaulted her as a child. And in a particularly tone-deaf decision, Baldwin compared Farrow to Mayella Ewell from To Kill a Mockingbird, one of western literature’s most notorious false rape accusers.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella attempts to initiate an affair with a Black man named Tom Robinson, and when he refuses her advances, Mayella and her father lie in court and claim Robinson attempted to rape her. Baldwin, disregarding the racial connotations that flow throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, decided to use Mayella as a convenient comparison to Farrow, who he said portrays an “arsenal” of “persistence of emotion” in publicly condemning Allen.

“Like Mayella in [To Kill a Mockingbird], her tears/exhortations r meant 2 shame u in2 belief in her story,” Baldwin tweeted. “But I need more than that before I destroy some1, regardless of their fame. I need a lot more.”

Dylan Farrow proceeded to respond to Baldwin with a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, arguing that Baldwin’s comments disregard the book’s larger social context and prove the actor “is just not a stickler for details.”

“It’s interesting that Mr. Baldwin chooses to dismiss the judgments of Justice Wilk and Prosecutor Frank Maco, who reviewed ALL of the evidence instead of just selected bits and pieces,” Farrow said to the Reporter, referencing a lengthy court battle that ended with Judge Wilk calling Allen’s behavior “grossly inappropriate.” “However, considering that Mr. Baldwin confidently invoked Mayella Ewell to make his point while forgetting that it’s been hotly debated that she was, in fact, raped by her father, demonstrates that perhaps Baldwin is just not a stickler for details.”

Baldwin’s statements have since gone viral on Twitter, with many women criticizing the actor for attacking Farrow.

https://twitter.com/CaroleTurner/status/957738048464326657

After facing such a negative backlash, Baldwin has since responded.

In the wake of #MeToo, Allen’s alleged sexual abuse has reached the public spotlight in full force, with renewed attention brought to his treatment of women. Despite years of soft coverage from the entertainment industry on Allen and his career, the internet has found itself disgusted with A Rainy Day in New York’s look at statutory rape, and star Timothée Chalamet has vowed to donate his salary from the film to Time’s Up. Speculation has since emerged that the film may never be released, either, in light of renewed interest in the allegations.

H/T Vanity Fair

Share this article
*First Published: Jan 29, 2018, 11:17 am CST

Ana Valens

Ana Valens is a reporter specializing in online queer communities, marginalized identities, and adult content creation. She is a former Daily Dot staff writer. Her work has appeared at Vice, Vox, Truthout, Bitch Media, Kill Screen, Rolling Stone, and the Toast. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and spends her free time developing queer adult games.

Ana Valens