Posted in: Movies | Tagged: Griffin Newman, harvey weinstein, woody allen

Tick Star Regrets Woody Allen Collaboration, Donates Salary To RAINN, Quits Twitter

Published Mon, 16 Oct 2017 09:15:18 -0500

Griffin Newman, who stars in Amazon's The Tick as sidekick Arthur Everest, has a role in the upcoming Woody Allen movie, Untitled Woody Allen Project (not the final name). Timothée Chalamet, Selena Gomez, Elle Fanning, Jude Law, Diego Luna, and Liev Schreiber also star in the film, which is set for a 2018 release window. But though the movie doesn't even have a title left, Newman already regrets signing on, as he announced on Twitter in the course of a two-day series of tweets expressing how he decided to accept the part even though he believes Woody Allen is guilty of child sexual abuse allegations, and what he's doing to atone for the decision. Newman has donated his entire salary to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN).

Newman's statements must be taken in the context of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which has seen accusation after accusation of rape and sexual harassment pile up against the disgraced Hollywood producer. Allen, who has been dogged by allegations by his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, that he molested her, commented on the Weinstein scandal, expressing sympathy for both Weinstein and the victims of his alleged behavior, and hoping that the backlash against alleged sexual abusers does not become a "witch hunt."

Newman's tweets began before Allen's statement on Weinstein. He described his decision to work with Allen despite believing he was guilty as something he felt guilty about immediately. As his tweets were shared widely, Newman says that he received blowback both from people upset that he made the decision to work with Allen and people upset that he believes Allen is guilty. After two days of tweeting, Newman said he was taking a break from Twitter for a week.

Read the tweets in full below (h/t AV Club):

– It's a one scene role.
– I spent a month debating whether or not to quit.
– I deeply regret my final decision.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 14, 2017

It was an educational experience for all the wrong reasons. I learned conclusively that I cannot put my career over my morals again.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 14, 2017

I've spent the last decade struggling as an actor, and learned to sideline my views because the thought of closing any doors was terrifying.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 14, 2017

I can't keep professionally operating from a place of fear. It's time to show a courage in my actions mirroring my words without concession.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 14, 2017

At the point in the response cycle where I'm getting equal amounts of (separate) criticism for taking the job as believing that he's guilty.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 15, 2017

Hey. As someone with less than 10k followers I did not expect this to spread as fast and wide as it did. I need to offer some addendums.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 15, 2017

2. People ask me for evidence of his guilt. I don't have any. I just read this and know who I want to believe. https://t.co/7SkXTc2wZc

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 15, 2017

4. "Why did it take you months to feel guilty?" It didn't. It took seconds. It just took me until now to verbalize it publicly.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 15, 2017

6. I'm not looking to be celebrated. I advise everyone to signal boost survivors or those who made the right choice the first time instead.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 15, 2017

Getting a non-stop stream of people telling me to go fuck myself on both sides of the issue now. It's overwhelming, and I'm at a loss.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 15, 2017

I just ask that people react to what I actually said, not the reaction it has provoked. The latter is not my design.

— Griffin Newman (@GriffLightning) October 15, 2017

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