Farrow and Allen subsequently went to court for custody of the children, and the case received widespread media attention. The investigation took place in the state of Connecticut and in New York, but in the end no criminal charges were brought. However, when deciding on custody, the court placed the children in the custody of Mia Farrow and restricted Allen’s contact.
Marriage with a “step” daughter
By the end of 1991, Allen was already a father of three. After the birth of his son Ronan, in addition to the aforementioned Dylan, he also adopted her adopted brother Moses. However, his attention was already focused on Soon-Yi at that time.
(Although we, like foreign media, used the term stepdaughter in the headline, for the sake of accuracy, we state that Soon-Yi Previn is the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow, with whom Woody Allen lived in a long-term relationship. Although he was not her biological or adoptive father, he raised her when they were a couple.)
Farrow found out about their affair by accident. Only a month after adopting Dylan and Moses, she found erotic photos of her daughter in Allen’s apartment. Although the actress is still convinced that their affair started earlier, Soon-Yi was already a college student when the compromising footage was found. None of the laws were broken because she was of legal age.
“To think that Woody was in some sense my father or stepfather is ridiculous. My parents are André Previn and Mia, but of course they are not my real parents either. I came to America when I was seven years old. I never had any relationship with Woody. We rarely spoke and were polite, but we did not care about each other. The fact is that I had no interest in him being better get to know him, and he, in turn, me,” the magazine quotes her as saying shortly after the relationship became public.
The controversial couple sealed their love by getting married in 1997. They subsequently adopted two daughters together, whom they named Bechet and Manzie Allen.
Friendship with Epstein
Already the first series of published Epstein Files documents revealed regular contact between the filmmaker and the sexual predator. In 2025, Allen spoke openly about him, calling his now-deceased friend an important person:
“He told us that he was in prison and that he was, I can’t remember the word, but that he was somehow unfairly imprisoned. He said that he was now trying to make amends by being philanthropic and giving money to top scientists and universities. He couldn’t have been nicer.”
Communications made available in February of this year complete the picture of the long-term friendship of influential men, but also of Soon-Yi herself. Like her husband, she exchanged thousands of emails with Epstein. In most of them, they agreed on joint meetings, but in one of them, for example, she approached him about what he could buy her for her birthday instead of flowers.
Allen does not deny the joint meetings, but insists that he did not notice signs of predation and sexual abuse.
“We went there and there was always a table full of important people – university professors, scientists, Nobel laureates. They were successful people who were a joy to listen to. One time he had a comedian night and another time it was a magician night. David Blaine was there and he swallowed live goldfish and then threw them back up. We never, ever saw Jeffrey with underage girls. He always had a girlfriend, but never a minor,” he added.
However, documents published in February of this year prove that Epstein and his clients were also present at the filming of Allen’s films. “Ask Hossain if he’d like to go to Woody’s set and watch Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin shoot a new movie tomorrow afternoon,” reads Epstein’s email to the London businessman who apparently brokered the meeting. Later, even unknown women with the ambition to break through in Hollywood had this opportunity.
“I spoke with Woody and as mentioned, Jeffrey (+ the ladies) are welcome on set. Also, Woody and Soon-Yi would love to take them to dinner when they visit. Although Jeffrey can come in at any time, Woody said he would get back to him with suggestions for when the day might be more interesting, such as exterior shots instead of some cramped interior,” according to a published thread between the men’s assistants.
From the private Epsteins, we can read the conditions that the promising actress had to meet: not only to be young – but to look even younger, to be slim, loyal and to be available every time the sexual predator felt like it. Otherwise he threatened her with “consequences”.
