Controversial movie director Woody Allen has defended the actions of Spanish soccer president Luis Rubiales, who pressured an unsolicited kiss on profitable captain Jenni Hermoso on the Women’s World Cup remaining final month.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker was requested in regards to the incident that has sparked worldwide outrage in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Mundo forward of the world premiere of his fiftieth movie Coup de Chance (Stroke of Luck) on the Venice Film Festival.
Allen, 87, mentioned the Spanish soccer chief mustn’t lose his job over an incident that he sees as “only a kiss” that was a lesser crime that solely required an apology.
“The first thing I thought was that they didn’t hide,” he advised the newspaper.
“He didn’t even kiss her in a dark alley. He wasn’t raping her. It was only a kiss and it was a friend. What’s wrong with that?
“It’s not like he murdered someone. But they suspended him from his position and he could lose everything … He did something incorrect … but it wasn’t like he burnt a school down.”
Allen mentioned he didn’t know if Hermoso turned away from Rubiales or advised him to not kiss her.
“Whatever the case, it’s difficult to understand that a person can lose their job and be penalised in that way for giving someone a kiss,” he added.
“If it was inappropriate or too aggressive, you have to tell them clearly to not do that and he needs to apologise.”
The El Mundo journalist advised Allen that Hermoso didn’t consent to the kiss and that Rubiales was ready of energy, however the director doubled down on his defence of the soccer chief’s brazen actions in “public”
“Yes, that’s right. But, on the other side, it was something public. He wasn’t kissing her in his office with a closed door or anything like that where she would have been threatened,” he mentioned.
“It was clearly in front of everyone and she was not in danger.
“But, of course, she has every right to be clear that she does not want to (be kissed) and he should ask for forgiveness and assure that he will not do it again. And, with that, they should both move on.”
Rubiales, 46, sparked worldwide outrage when he forcibly kissed Hermoso on the lips throughout the match medal ceremony in Sydney on August 20.
He was suspended by FIFA for 90 days over the incident, however has refused to resign as Spanish Football Federation president regardless of mounting public and authorities strain. He insists he’s the sufferer of a smear marketing campaign.
Hermoso has maintained she didn’t consent to being kissed on the lips throughout the trophy presentation, and felt “vulnerable and the victim of an assault”.
Allen’s feedback in regards to the incident had been much more subdued and dismissive than the fury expressed by gamers and the general public, who’ve held public protests towards Rubiales in Spain.
But his obvious defence of the notorious league president has drawn criticism from social media customers, who say the director’s contribution solely made the scenario “worse” for Rubiales.
“At this point even Rubiales islike: ‘Woody, please, it’s bad enough as it is…’,” one particular person wrote on X, formally often known as Twitter.
“When someone defends you with the argument ‘he wasn’t raping her, it was just a kiss’ and that person is Woody Allen, it’s time you realise you did something very wrong,” one other wrote.
“I on the other hand can easily see how kissing a random person in the work place out of the blue without obtaining permission would lead to immediate walking papers from that job,” another person wrote.
“Such is how things are in the real world.”
The twilight years of Allen’s prolonged profession have been rocked by allegations of sexual assault levelled towards him, together with by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow who alleged he sexually abused her when she was a baby.
The allegations had been on the core of an explosive four-part documentary collection Allen v Farrow, launched in 2021.
The veteran director addressed these allegations – which he has all the time denied – in one other interview on the Venice movie competition.
“The situation has been investigated by two people, two major bodies, not people, but two major investigative bodies. And both, after long detailed investigations, concluded there was no merit to these charges, that, you know, is exactly as I wrote in my book, Apropos of Nothing,” Allen advised Variety.
That autobiography sparked its personal controversy, cancelled by its unique writer Hachette after workers protests. It was later picked up and launched by Arcade Publishing.
Allen advised Variety he was “always willing” to reconcile with Dylan and her brother, journalist Ronan Farrow – who’s Allen’s organic son with actor Mia Farrow.
His relationship with the actor, now 78, led to 1992 after 12 years, when his intimate relationship with Soon-Yi Previn – Mia’s then 21-year-old adopted daughter – turned public.
Allen and Previn married in 1997 and share two adopted daughters Bechet, 24, and Manzie Tio, 23. The household walked the purple carpet on the Venice Film Festival collectively.
The Variety interview additionally touched upon the #MeToo motion and cancel tradition, which Allen referred to as “all so silly”.
“I think any movement where there’s actual benefit, where it does something positive, let’s say for women, is a good thing,” he mentioned.
“When it becomes silly, it’s silly. I read instances where it’s very beneficial, where the situation has been very beneficial for women, and that’s good. When I read of some instances in a story in the paper where it’s silly, then it’s foolish.”
A gaggle of about 20 bare-chested protesters staged an indication towards “rape culture” throughout the purple carpet for Coup de Chance in Venice, based on The Hollywood Reporter, chanting that they spoke “for those without a voice against the director predators”.
The demonstration started as Allen stepped onto the purple carpet of his movie, stopping shortly previous the carpet, the place they chanted for a couple of minutes earlier than they had been led out of the competition space by police.
Originally printed as ‘He wasn’t raping her’: Filmmaker Woody Allen defends Spanish soccer president Luis Rubiales after unsolicited kiss
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
