Hollywood director Woody Allen has, very strangely, come to the defence of Spanish football official Luis Rubiales.
Rubiales came under fire for non-consensually kissing player Jenni Hermoso at the World Cup Final, which was captured on camera during the post-match trophy celebration, and sparked social media outrage. He has since been provisionally barred by Fifa from all football activity, but has refused to quit; Hermoso has said she did not consent to the kiss, and along with her 22 team-mates, has gone on strike and will not play for the national team until Rubiales resigns.
In his statement, Rubiales was defiant and said: “The spontaneity and happiness of the historic moment led us to carry out a mutual and consented act, the product of great enthusiasm. At no time was there any aggression, indeed, there was not even the slightest discomfort, but an overflowing joy in both.” Adding that “I repeat: with the consent of both parties, both in the affectionate hugs, as well as in the peak and subsequent farewell full of affectionate mutual gestures, that occurred on the medals delivery stage.”
The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has finally apologised this week, for the “enormous damage” caused by the actions of its suspended president. The statement dubbed Rubiales’ behaviour as “totally unacceptable” and that he “tarnished our national team, our football and our society”. However, it's too little too late given their initial approach was to victim shame Hermoso and platform Rubiales. A few days after the kiss, the federation issued a statement threatening to sue Hermoso, accusing her of lying and defamation. They have now said they would remove these “inappropriate" statements, adding “We are especially sorry and embarrassed by the additional pain and anguish this has caused.”
Woody Allen - despite having no connection to Spanish football - decided to weigh in. It always astounds me how readily misogynistic men tell on themselves. When they could just be quiet, and keep their awful opinions to themselves, instead they share them brazenly and publicly. Over the weekend, the filmmaker was in attendance at the Venice Film Festival to debut his 50th movie, the romantic-comedy Coup de Chance. In an interview with El Mundo (following the screening), Allen was asked about the World Cup situation. In response, he said that Rubiales should apologise to Hermoso but that he shouldn’t lose his job over what he called “just a kiss”.
“The kiss on the soccer player was wrong, but it did not burn down a school,” Allen said. “He has the duty to apologise and go ahead... They didn’t hide, nor did he kiss her in a dark alley. He wasn’t raping her, it was just a kiss and she was a friend. What’s wrong with that?”
If that wasn't bad enough, he carried on to say “In any case, it is difficult to understand that a person can lose their job and be penalised in that way for kissing someone.”
In just a few sentences Woody Allen managed to cover a lot of misogynistic ground.
He reinforced harmful narratives around what does, and doesn't, ‘count’ as sexual assault. A common lie victims are told is that rape only happens in dark alleys by strangers. When, in fact, 6 in 7 rapes against women are carried out by someone they know and 1 in 2 rapes against women are carried out by their partner or ex-partner. “She was a friend” is not the defence Allen thinks it is, and it certainly doesn't mean the kiss was harmless.
Calling out sexism is simply too much like hard work.
Then there's how Allen downplayed what happened, a common and well-worn tactic patriarchal society uses to delegitimise women's claims. We're told being groped is just ‘a bit of fun’; that unwanted sexual advances are ‘flirting’ or ‘banter’; that cat calls are a compliment; that it's just a kiss, just a hug, just a misunderstanding. Just just just just just just.
He even managed to get in the adage that accusations of sexual harassment/assault are somehow worse than the actual assault. Women who come forward are often condemned for ‘ruining’ a man's career or reputation, as if they did not ruin it themselves with their behaviour. Notice how Allen does not mention Hermoso's career; how her part in winning the World Cup will always be stained by this or that Rubiales ruined one of the most important moments in her football career. Instead, he focuses on and centres the man, gives him sympathy and not the victims.
I wouldn't expect much less from a man who has longstanding sexual abuse allegations against him, from his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow (which her mother and Allen's former partner, Mia Farrow, corroborates). The same man who married and has had two children with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow. At the time their relationship publicly began, Allen was 56 and Previn was 21.
Dylan first raised the allegations in 1992, the claims were investigated at the time but a Connecticut prosecutor decided not to pursue charges because Dylan, who was seven at the time, was too “fragile” to withstand a trial. In his 33-page decision on the case, Judge Wilk found that Allen’s behaviour toward Dylan was “grossly inappropriate and that measures must be taken to protect her.” Allen has always denied the charges, and has never been charged with a crime in this case.
There is an unspoken kinship amongst men who abuse women. The way Allen leapt to Rubiales defence says a lot indeed.
