Woody Allen opens up about his ‘lucky’ marriage

Director Woody Allen rarely speaks about his relationship with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, but he did this week.

Previn is Mia Farrow’s adoptive daughter. Allen and Farrow split in 1992 when the Great Gatsby star found nude photographs of Previn, taken by the Oscar winner.

Allen, 79, married Previn, now 44, in 1997.

If the circumstances of his relationship with Previn weren’t eyebrow-raising enough, his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow accused Allen of sexual abuse in an open letter published in The New York Times last year, recounting his alleged abuse in excruciating detail. Allen denied any wrongdoing.

“I lucked out in my last relationship,” Allen told NPR’s Sam Fragoso. “I think that was probably the odd factor that I’m so much older than the girl I married. ... and somehow, through no fault of mine or hers, the dynamic worked. I was paternal. She responded to someone paternal. I liked her youth and energy. She deferred to me, and I was happy to give her an enormous amount of decision-making just as a gift and let her take charge of so many things. She flourished.”

Allen seems to contradict the wishes of his wife and the way she’d like to be seen. In a statement released to Newsweek in 1992, Previn was adamant that she didn’t want her relationship with Allen characterized by his paternalism, saying, “He was never any kind of father figure to me.”

NEW ADDITION

Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross have welcomed their first child together, a source confirms to Us Weekly. The couple's baby girl arrived on Thursday. Proud grandma is Diana Ross. Simpson, 30, shares custody of son Bronx, 6, with ex-husband Pete Wentz.

SISTER ACT

Katy Perry’s dream of owning a hilltop convent near Hollywood is going to have to wait a while longer. The convent is in the middle of a legal fight between a group of elderly nuns and the archbishop of L.A. over who has control of the sale and its proceeds. Some of the nuns don’t want Perry to buy their former home and in June hastily sold the convent to a businesswoman with ambitions of turning it into a boutique hotel.

MUST LOVE DOGS

Jennifer Beals is defending herself as a loving and “discerning” dog owner after she was captured by a TV reporter briefly leaving her dog inside a vehicle on a warm day in Vancouver, British Columbia. A Global News reporter filmed the Flashdance star returning to her car on Wednesday, with her large dog inside with the windows partially opened. Beals said in a statement that she loves dogs and it was a “cool” 73 degrees. She says she left the car briefly to pick up laundry. An enforcement officer with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the organization is not investigating Beals.

PHOTO OPS

U2 had some special guests at their concert Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Paul Simon joined the band for Mother and Child Reunion. Bono, who crashed his bike in Central Park and suffered multiple injuries last year, called out the woman who dialed 911 and the firefighters who responded to the call. They sat close to the stage. “I am here today because some people, when I crashed my bike here in the city, a beautiful girl made a phone call to 911. And so is Engine 44, the firefighters that picked me up off the ground,” he said.

LIGHT LIVES ON

The 1984 Summer Olympic Torch that Bruce Jenner carried through Lake Tahoe, Nevada, sold for just under $24,000 at an auction of sports memorabilia Thursday. The 24-inch Olympic torch was the first major piece of Jenner memorabilia to go to auction since the winner of the 1976 Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal became Caitlyn Jenner. It had a presale estimate of $20,000.

DIRECTOR CHARGED

A director with credits on Law & Order has been arrested in suburban New York on child pornography charges. Westchester County authorities say Jason “Jace” Alexander was charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing an obscene performance by a child. Prosecutors tell the Journal News that digital files showing minors engaged in sex acts were found on computers at the director’s Dobbs Ferry home. Alexander, 51, was arraigned, released on $10,000 bail and due back in court Nov. 19.

This story was originally published July 31, 2015 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Woody Allen opens up about his ‘lucky’ marriage."