A performing arts centre in the US has pulled Woody Allen’s musical Bullets Over Broadway from its schedule after he described ongoing sexual harassment scandals as a “witch hunt”. Bainbridge Performing Arts (BPA) in Bainbridge Island, Washington has withdrawn the show from its 2017-18 season.
The comments came after film producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault by multiple women. In an interview with the BBC, Allen said he was worried “every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself”.
He later clarified his comments, and described Weinstein as a “sick man”.
BPA executive director Dominique Cantwell made the following statement: “Given our national conversation about how women are treated or mistreated by men in positions of power, and given that Woody Allen has placed himself very publicly on what we consider the opposing side of the issue and has been advocating against a “witch hunt” of the men perpetrating this culture of abuse, we have decided that we cannot promote or support him by paying royalties for his work.”