Woody Allen expressed his support to #MeToo movementpromoting his new film, adding, however, that he sometimes finds the cancellation culture “stupid.”

The director’s career has recently been tarnished by the recent resurgence on social media of an allegation made against him in 1993, when his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, said he had sexually abused her in an attic during of a custody battle between Allen and Dylan’s stepmother, Mia Farrow.

The allegations were investigated twice and no charges were filed. Allen has always maintained his innocence. However, restatements of the claims by Dylan and her brother Ronan Farrow led many to condemn Allen.

Speaking to Variety ahead of the premiere of his film, Coup de Chance, the 87-year-old Allen said he remains a supporter of #MeToo, but with reservations.

“I think any movement where there’s a real benefit, where it does something positive, say for women, is a good thing,” she said. “When it’s stupid, it’s stupid. I read cases where it is very beneficial, where the situation has been very beneficial for women and that is good. When I read some instances in a newspaper story where something is stupid, then it’s stupid.”

In 2018, Allen’s deal with Amazon for four films was canceled – in part – apparently in response to the director’s joking comments regarding the #MeToo movement. Allen later sued the studio for $68 million (the case was privately settled in 2019, according to reports). Allen stood by these remarks, saying, “The truth is, it’s true. I have done 50 films. I’ve always had really good roles for women, I’ve always had women on the crew, we’ve always paid them exactly the same amount as we’ve paid men, I’ve worked with hundreds of actors and I’ve never, ever had one complaint from any of them at any point .

Not one has ever said, ”Working with him was mean or harassing”. I hire whoever I think is good for the role. Like I said, I’ve worked with hundreds of actresses, unknown actresses, stars, mid-level actors. No one has ever complained and there is nothing to complain about,” he said.

Asked to comment on the 2021 miniseries, in which the Farrows laid out their case against Allen, he commented: “There was nothing. The fact that something is still in the public eye always makes me think that maybe people like it. You know, maybe there’s something attractive to people. But why; Why; I don’t know what you can do except research it, which they did so meticulously. They talked to everyone involved and they both came to exactly the same conclusion.”

Coup de Chance is a French-language thriller set in Paris, but Allen stated that if he were to make another film, it would be in New York. US and UK actors have been divided into groups, with those who continue to support him such as Scarlett Johansson, Diane Keaton and Emma Stone and those who do not support him such as Colin Firth, Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Hall.

Finally, Allen also echoed the views of his contemporaries, such as Francis Ford Coppola, that cinema is not currently experiencing a heyday.