Director Woody Allen (C), actress Kristen Stewart (R) and actress Blake Lively attend a photocall for the film “Cafe Society” during the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 11, 2016.
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The Cafe Society actress declared on Thursday, May 12, that she was offended by a controversial joke made about her director Woody Allen at the Wednesday night opening of the film – even if he was not. The crowd, which Variety said gave the 80-year-old Allen a standing ovation minutes before, is said to have gasped at the joke. But the pic, which opens July 15 in the USA, was met with a warmer reception than Allen’s recent films such as Irrational Man (which screened at Cannes last year) or Magic in the Moonlight.
While the funnyman didn’t reference Roman Polanski specifically, it’s safe to assume he was referencing the French-Polish filmmaker who now lives in Europe after avoiding US charges for unlawfully sleeping with a 13-year-old girl.
Although Allen brushed off Lafitte’s joke, Blake Lively, who stars in his film Café Society, wasn’t so forgiving.
Lafitte’s jokes continued, with another aimed squarely at Allen, according to THR.
“I just don’t have any material on it, anything really to draw on”, said Allen.
The Hollywood Reporter called it “a small fiction of amiable appeal and vibrancy”, while Variety called it “one of those Allen films that keeps talking about passion instead of actually making the audience feel it”.
Allen has previously denied that he molested Dylan, allegations first leveled in 1992 when Dylan was seven and Allen and Mia Farrow were in the midst of a bitter divorce.
“I came home and went to bed at whatever time we finished”, she said.
“I never read anything”, Allen said. Just work. It’s worked for me.
He also responded to another reporter that he had not and would not read his son’s column, saying he never reads anything written about him. “I am a nonjudgmental, non-censorship person on jokes”. I said everything I had to say about that whole issue in the New York Times, I don’t know if you read it, some time ago. “I never read what you say about me or the reviews of my film”.
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Allen said that he is “completely in favour” of comedians making any jokes they want.
