As the list of Hollywood actors avowing to never to work with Woody Allen again rises, Javier Bardem has spoken out to defend the filmmaker.
The Oscar-winning actor - who featured with now-wife Penelope Cruz in Allen's 2000 drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona - said he is "absolutely not" ashamed of appearing in his movie.
"If there was evidence that Woody Allen was guilty, then yes, I would have stopped working with him, but I have doubts," he told Paris Match.
Following the resurfacing of allegations of sexual abuse made against Allen by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, stars including Colin Firth, Ellen Page and Greta Gerwig said they would not be working with him again.
"I am very shocked by this sudden treatment," Bardem continued. "Judgments in the states of New York and Connecticut found him innocent. The legal situation today is the same as in 2007."
No charges were filed against Allen after Dylan accused him of assaulting her as a child, something which Allen denies.
A state's attorney said that he had "probable cause" to prosecute (according to The New York Times), but Allen was never put on trial, a move intended to spare Dylan Farrow the trauma of a court appearance, the prosecutor said.
Allen's latest project, A Rainy Day in New York, is still awaiting release. Its cast members including Rebecca Hall, Timothee Chalamet and, reportedly, Selena Gomez have all donated their salaries from the film to the Time's Up campaign.
"I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all the people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve," Chalamet wrote on Instagram.
In the wake of the Hollywood movement against sexual assault following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, published an open letter in December 2017, reiterating claims that Allen sexual assaulted her when she was seven-years-old.
Allen consistently denied these claims and was also never found guilty of child sex abuse.
