Diane Keaton Accepts Cecil B. DeMille Award On Behalf Of Woody Allen, Angers Allen's Estranged Son Ronan Farrow

by uInterviewJanuary 13, 2014, 12:00 am >

Diane Keaton accepted the Cecil B. DeMille award at Sunday evening’s 2014 Golden Globes ceremony on behalf of longtime friend and colleague Woody Allen, giving an odd speech and frustrating Allen’s estranged son, Ronan Farrow.

Diane Keaton Gives Joyful Speech Honoring Woody Allen

Keaton, who has been in seven Allen-directed films, including the adored Annie Hall (1977), was on hand wearing her signature pantsuit tuxedo look to accept the award – Allen is notorious for boycotting all award shows save the 2002 Oscars, on which he appeared to give a special tribute to New York City.

Keaton quoted Allen in her speech, recalling what the director once said about the nature of art, specifically filmmaking, and immortality.

“Once of the nice things about writing or any art is that if the thing’s real, it just kind of lives. All the success over it or the rejection, none of that really matters because in the end the thing will survive or not survive on its merits. Immortality via art is no big deal. François Truffaut died. His films live on, but that’s not much help to François Truffaut. As I’ve said many times, rather than live on in the hearts and minds of my fellow man, I would rather live on in my apartment,” Keaton quoted.

Keaton also spoke about how her work with Allen changed her life, and praised his ability to write exceptional female characters before ending her speech with her rendition of the Girl Scouts song in honor of her friend of 45 years.

“It’s kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that 179 of the world’s most captivating actresses have appeared in Woody Allen’s films. And there’s a reason for this. And the reason is, they wanted to. They wanted to because Woody’s women can’t be compartmentalized. They struggle, they love, they fall apart, they dominate, they’re flawed. They are, in fact, the hallmark of Woody’s work. But what’s even more remarkable is absolutely nothing links these unforgettable characters from the fact that they came from the mind of Woody Allen,” Keaton said, joyfully.

Mia Farrow And Son Ronan Farrow Slam Woody Allen Tribute

Allen is known for being inspired by various female actresses, from Keaton to, most recently, Scarlett Johansson, who stared in three Woody Allen films, Match Point (2005), Scoop (2006) and Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008). Another one of Allen’s muses was Mia Farrow, who was involved in a romantic relationship with Allen for about 12 years and stared in some of his most beloved films, such as The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).

Over the course of their 12 year relationship, Farrow and Allen adopted two children together, Moses Farrow and Dylan Farrow, and had one biological child, Ronan. The relationship ended abruptly in 1991 when it was revealed that Allen was in a romantic relationship with Farrow’s adopted daughter, 19-year-old Soon-Yi Previn.

The fallout from the affair consumed the family and forever made Allen a controversial public figure. Allen and Soon-Yi married in 1997 and adopted two daughters together.

In a recent Vanity Fair article, the Farrow children spoke out for the first time on Allen and the allegations that he molested a then 7-year-old Dylan before ending his relationship with Farrow. The Farrow family completely cut ties with Allen after the allegations and subsequent custody trials. Allen lost his custody rights, and the children have stated that they have not spoken to Allen or Soon-Yi since.

In the article, Dylan spoke publicly about the allegations for the first time, saying, “There’s a lot I don’t remember, but what happened in the attic I remember. I remember what I was wearing and what I wasn’t wearing…The things making me uncomfortable were making me think I was a bad kid, because I didn’t want to do what my elder told me to do.”

Farrow, who had been live-tweeting the Golden Globe Awards, stopped abruptly right before the Woody Allen tribute, announcing that she would be switching to HBO to watch the season three premiere of Girls.

Time to grab some icecream & switch over to #GIRLS

— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) January 13, 2014

Son, Ronan, who is getting ready the debut of his MSNBC show, was more direct in his disdain for the Woody Allen tribute, tweeting, “Missed the Woody Allen tribute – did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?”

Missed the Woody Allen tribute – did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?

— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) January 13, 2014

Farrow later re-tweeted Ronan’s tweet and added a few comments of her own Monday morning, directly criticizing the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Golden Globes for honoring Allen.

A woman has publicly detailed Woody Allen's molestation of her at age 7. GoldenGlobe tribute showed contempt for her & all abuse survivors

— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) January 13, 2014