Woody Allen spotted with wife Soon-Yi in rare outing years after their controversial relationship 'broke every taboo'
Warning: this article mentions child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
They're involved in one of the most controversial relationships in Hollywood history, and this week Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn were spotted grabbing some fresh air during a stroll through Los Angeles.
The couple's outing marks the first time that the filmmaker has been seen in public since April of this year.
Before that, they'd remained in hiding since 30 September 2024, when they were photographed at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre for the opening night of McNeal.
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According to PEOPLE Magazine, on Sunday (27 Jul), Allen, 89, and 54-year-old Soon-Yi dined together at Wolfgang Puck's fine-dining restaurant Spago in Beverly Hills, where they were joined by a group of pals.
Whilst neither party have ever confirmed this to be the case, it's long been rumoured that the reason the duo - who married in December 1997 - are rarely seen in public is the hotly-debated nature of their early relationship.
How did Woody Allen and Soon-Yi first meet?
For those in need of a reminder, Soon-Yi is Allen's third wife. In his early 20s, the actor wed Harlene Rosen, who was a teenager at the time. Their marriage lasted three years, after which Allen made several stand-up references to her, for which she sued him millions for defamation.
His second marriage to Louise Lasser in 1966 lasted only one year longer than his last.
In the years that followed their 1970 divorce, Allen began dating actress Mia Farrow - famed for her roles in Rosemary's Baby and Follow Me! - who went on to star in 13 of his blockbuster movies.
By the time the pair became embroiled in a romantic relationship, Farrow was already a mother to seven children - three of whom were biological kids from her first marriage to composer André Previn.
During their marriage, she and Previn also adopted a further three children, in 1978 - two daughters from Vietnam, and a son and daughter from South Korea. The latter, her six-year-old Korean daughter, was Soon-Yi.
Farrow and Previn themselves divorced in 1979, after which the actress went public with her romance with Allen.
During their 12-year relationship, the couple adopted a daughter from Texas, Dylan Farrow, and welcomed a biological son of their own, Ronan Farrow, born Satchel.
Also during this time, Allen began having an affair with Farrow's daughter Soon-Yi.
How did Woody Allen and Soon-Yi respond when their relationship became public?
Both Allen and Soon-Yi both claimed that they first sensed a closer connection during a soccer game they attended together, whilst the latter was studying in college.
'Some time later', Allen claims in his autobiography Apropros of Nothing, the pair began a physical relationship, which they first believed to be a secret 'fling.'
"I thought it would be a nice experience and Soon-Yi would eventually meet some guy at college and enter a more conventional relationship. I didn't realise how attached to one another we'd already grown," he insisted.
By 1992, their relationship became public knowledge.
In response to the widespread criticism they received, Allen said in an interview with Time Magazine that year, as per Salon: "I am not Soon-Yi's father or stepfather", adding: "I've never even lived with Mia.
"I've never in my entire life slept at Mia's apartment, and I never even used to go over there until my children came along seven years ago. I never had any family dinners over there. I was not a father to her adopted kids in any sense of the word."
The same year, he issued a statement to the New York Times claiming to be 'in love' with Soon-Yi, who was then 21.
"She's a lovely, intelligent, sensitive woman who has and continues to turn around my life in a wonderfully positive way," Allen gushed at the time.
The same year, Soon-Yi told Newsweek of the nature of their romance: "I’m not a retarded little underage flower who was raped, molested, and spoiled by some evil stepfather — not by a long shot."
What are the allegations against Woody Allen?
The year that they went public, however, Allen was accused by his and Farrow's adoptive daughter, Dylan, of having sexually molested the child in her mother's home, when she was around seven years old.
The filmmaker has insisted his innocence ever since, claiming the allegations were 'an unconscionable and gruesomely damaging manipulation of innocent children for vindictive and self-serving motives', following his affair with Soon-Yi.
The claims that Allen touched Dylan's 'private parts' were investigated and dismissed by a New York judge during a custody case in 1993.
She told Vulture in 2018: "Thanks to my mother, I grew up in a wonderful home."
Despite the claims having been dismissed in a legal sense, Allen's reputation has plummeted in Hollywood circles, with huge-name stars having since expressed their regret for having starred in his films.
"What’s happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust," Soon-Yi told Vulture in 2018.
"[Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim.
"And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn’t."
Allen also told Argentine TV the same year: "I should be the poster boy for the #MeToo movement.
"I’ve worked with hundreds of actresses, and not a single one — big ones, famous ones, ones starting out — have ever, ever suggested any kind of impropriety at all."
Dylan has maintained her recollection of abuse since her case was dismissed, however, claiming her father and Soon-Yi's beliefs that Farrow had pushed her into making the allegations 'only serve to re-victimise me.'
What has Soon-Yi’s mum Mia Farrow said?
With regards to the dismissal of Dylan's abuse claims, 80-year-old Farrow alleged of her ex in the 2021 docuseries Allen v. Farrow: "He's weaponised two of my children that he's turned against me."
The claim referred to Soon-Yi and Allen's son Moses' support of his father, and his belief that Farrow had turned Dylan against her father with false allegations.
In the same doc, Farrow also spoke out on Allen's relationship with Soon-Yi, claiming she had no idea anything uncouth was going on behind the scenes, and even admitting she initially encouraged the two to spend more time together.
"He took the little ones shopping and bought them airplanes and magic tricks," she said of Allen. "He started bringing all of them to basketball games. I really encouraged him to go with Soon-Yi, too, because she was really shy."
Farrow also blames Allen for breaking her trust as a father-figure to her adopted child.
"I love her so much and I didn't ever blame her, you know, because she was just a little kid when he came into the family," she confessed.
"She was a little girl. We were family and he was in my home as my partner and as such he had responsibilities. You don't get to have sex with my children. That isn't part of the deal."
Do Woody Allen and Soon-Yi have any children?
After marrying in 1997, Allen and Soon-Yi went on to adopt two daughters together - Bechet, now 26, and Manzie, 25.
The last time that the foursome were spotted together in public was at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, where they appeared on the red carpet in support of his movie Coup de Chance.
Soon-Yi had previously expressed her preference for adoption, telling Vulture in 2018 of her belief that having biological children is a somewhat selfish move, given how many neglected children there already are in the world.
"I don’t need kids out there who have similar traits to me and look similar to me and Woody," the mum-of-two explained.
"Why is one’s DNA so special? Why would one keep on breeding when there are so many kids out there who need a loving home?"
Does Soon-Yi still speak to her mum?
As of 2021, Soon-Yi and Farrow are totally estranged.
In her docuseries released that year, the actress claimed that her daughter's loss had impacted her greatly.
"I love Soon-Yi, Farrow told viewers at the time. "It took me six years to throw away the Christmas stocking I knitted for her thinking she would come back, but she didn't."
That said, however, Soon-Yi claimed three years earlier that she and her adoptive mother were 'like oil and water', telling Vulture she 'wasn't maternal to me from the get-go.'
Where are Woody Allen and Soon-Yi now?
Despite the negative attention that their marriage has garnered over the last three decades, Soon-Yi has remained by Allen's side.
That said, they've only been seen out and about in public a handful of times since - mostly walking through Los Angeles and New York neighbourhoods hand-in-hand.
She told Vulture in 2018 that, since tying the knot, they've not spent a single evening apart.
Rhianna Benson