‘Allen v. Farrow’ Filmmakers Interview Nanny Who Allegedly Saw Allen Acting Inappropriately With Dylan Farrow
Allen v. Farrow filmmakers Amy Ziering and Amy Herdy have released an interview with the nanny who said she saw Woody Allen allegedly acting inappropriately with then seven-year-old Dylan Farrow. The interview starts at the 23:24 mark of the second episode of the Allen v. Farrow podcast.
Alison Stickland was the nanny of Mia Farrow’s friend Casey Pascal, one of three people in the house at the time of the alleged incident and a first-hand witness to the alleged incident. As Herdy explains, she spent two years trying to find Stickland, who lives in the U.K., eventually coming across a possible address and sending a handwritten letter. Just days after the filmmakers wrapped production on the episode that features Stickland’s court testimony, Herdy got a text message from Stickland saying she was ready to talk.
In the interview, Stickland said she was shocked to get the letter but felt a responsibility to speak with the filmmakers. She recalled the summers she spent taking the Pascal children to Farrow’s house in Connecticut, and the day she witnessed the alleged incident.
“At some point during the day, I didn’t see one of Mrs. Pascal’s children, so I went in the house to have a look, and I opened the door to this small TV room and when I opened it, I saw Woody, on his knees, kneeling down in front of Dylan, with his head in her lap,” Stickland said.
Stickland, who was in her mid-Twenties at the time, continued: “I was shocked. I thought it was very odd. I didn’t know what to think of it really, it’s not something you expect to see a father and daughter… you know, a situation to see a father and daughter in.”
Stickland said she was sure Allen was aware that she’d walked in because she entered the room normally as “there was no reason for me to go in quietly.” And when asked what Dylan looked like in that moment, Stickland said: “She was just sat there… I don’t recall any conversation or laughter. She was just sat there, and it was just quiet.”
Stickland said she was so troubled by what she’d seen that she was compelled to tell Pascal about it later that night. It was Pascal’s call to Farrow the following day that prompted Farrow to make a video of Dylan recounting the incident; Allen has repeatedly denied the allegations and claimed that Dylan was coached what to say (the video had previously been available in court documents, but Allen v. Farrow marks the first time it’s been aired publicly).
Asked what she made of Allen’s claim in his testimony that his interaction with Dylan was an innocent, fatherly thing, Stickland replied: “I’m not sure — maybe from his point of view he saw it like that. But it didn’t strike me as normal behavior. You don’t expect a father to have his head in his young daughter’s lap. That’s why it bothered me so much.”
