Woody Allen announced his retirement Saturday, telling Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that his current movie project will be his last and that he intends to focus on writing his first novel.
The director, however, almost immediately walked back his claim. Representatives for Allen released this statement, per Variety:
“Woody Allen never said he was retiring, nor did he say he was writing another novel. He said he was thinking about not making films as making films that go straight or very quickly to streaming platforms is not so enjoyable for him, as he is a great lover of the cinema experience. Currently, he has no intention of retiring and is very excited to be in Paris shooting his new movie, which will be the 50th.”
His 50th movie is set in Paris and will filmed entirely in French. Allen has been filming more outside of the United States due to the abuse allegations against him, according to Variety.
Here’s a timeline of Woody Allen’s career so far, including the many abuse accusations against him:
1965 — Woody Allen’s first film, “What’s New Pussycat,” is released. Allen wrote and starred in the movie.
1966 — Woody Allen’s directorial debut, “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?”, is released.
1977 — “Annie Hall” is released. The film would go on to win four Oscars, with Allen himself winning two: best director and best original screenplay.
1979 — “Manhattan,” a film in which Allen’s character has a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old high school girl, is released.
1989 — Woody Allen begins dating actress Mia Farrow.
1992 — Farrow discovers that Allen has explicit, nude photos of her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. Farrow and Allen break up and he begins dating Soon-Yi, who was likely “at least 19 when her sexual relationship with Allen began,” per Vox.
1992 — Allen’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, who was 7 years old at the time, accuses Allen of molesting her. Allen denies the allegations, saying they were made up to keep his kids from him amid a custody battle.
1993-2013 — Even though there is “probable cause” to charge Allen with molesting Dylan Farrow, a state attorney said, per Vox, Allen was not charged because of the “potential trauma it could cause for Dylan.” Allen goes on to make many more movies.
2014 — Abuse allegations against Allen are renewed, and Dylan Farrow reinforced her allegations against Allen.