As I await my hardcover order of Woody Allen’s memoir, “Apropos of Nothing,” subtly released earlier this week, details from the book are starting to slowly trickle in. A particularly interesting tidbit, involving Timothée Chalamet, has made the news rounds today. In one of the book’s chapters, Allen states thatChalamet’s public denouncement of him wasn't motivated by morals as much as the actor’s Oscar chances.
If you remember, Chalamet starred in Allen’s “A Rainy Day In New York,” around the same time the #MeToo movement peaked, which meant celebrities with past sexual abuse allegations were brought back into the spotlight. At the time, Chalamet had some major Best Actor buzz going for his performance in “Call Me By Your Name,” however, after Allen became a target of the #MeToo movement, Chalamet came out against the filmmaker, with the star donating his payment for the film to charity.
At the time, Chalamet released a public statement that said “I have been asked in a few recent interviews about my decision to work on a film with Woody Allen last summer. What I can say is this: I don’t want to profit from my work on the film, and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities: TIME’S UP, the LGBT Center in New York and RAINN.”
In Allen’s memoir, the director found absolutely no sincerity in Chalamet’s actions which, according to Allen, were motivated by Oscar campaigning:
“All the three leads in ‘Rainy Day’ were excellent and a pleasure to work with,” Allen said (via Page Six). “Timothée afterward publicly stated he regretted working with me and was giving the money to charity, but he swore to my sister he needed to do that as he was up for an Oscar for ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ and he and his agent felt he had a better chance of winning if he denounced me, so he did.” The filmmaker added, “Anyhow, I didn’t regret working with him and I’m not giving any of my money back.”
So, wait, Allen has proof that Chalamet actually told his sister that it was all a ploy to win an Oscar? Will Chalamet deny this? I hope not. Just be a man, admit you made a mistake and move on.
Yes, I love many of Woody Allen’s movies, but that doesn’t mean that I am immune to criticize Chalamet's actions, which did strike me as being disingenuous. The accusations against Allen were out there for 24 years. Chalamet and his agent should have known better than to go ahead and work with Allen only to then throw him under the bus for allegations that they already knew about Was Chalamet using Allen as a stepping stone to build his own career? You bet.