Woody Allen‘s appearance in HBO’s new Ralph Lauren documentary is raising eyebrows.
A longtime friend of the noted American fashion designer, the 83-year-old director — who has been accused of sexual assault and pedophilia — makes two very notable cameos in the network’s new film “Very Ralph,” which premiered Tuesday.
In an interview that appears in the doc, the disgraced Oscar winner jokes, “These are Ralph Lauren pants and, you know, he has the kind of things I like, tweed jackets and those kinds of shirts and corduroy trousers. But he doesn’t dress me; I’ve been dressing myself since I was 48.”
In a later clip, Allen adds, “Ralph gets to play Ralph Lauren and Ralph is exactly what he wants to play. He’s good-looking, he’s a hero, he can wear any of that stuff, the evening clothes or the cowboy clothes, and he looks great.”
Viewers of the doc took to Twitter to express their disbelief at Allen’s inclusion, with one user writing, “I cannot believe #VeryRalph interviewed Woody Allen! I thought his brand is supposed to be The American Dream! In the age of #MeToo do they think women wanna wear clothes endorsed by predators?”
Another added, “Was really enjoying VERY RALPH and then Woody Allen showed up as a talking head. Yuck,” while a third tweeted, “Ok wtf is Woody Allen doing here?”
The documentary also features a brief appearance by one of Lauren’s early collaborators, photographer Bruce Weber, who in 2018 was accused of sexual misconduct by 20 male models.
Less controversial fashion luminaries and celebrities who contributed on-screen interviews to “Very Ralph” include Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, André Leon Talley, Hillary Clinton, Robin Givhan, Jason Wu, Naomi Campbell, Martha Stewart, Calvin Klein, Tyson Beckford, Tina Brown, Diane von Furstenberg, Kanye West and Jessica Chastain.
Both Allen and Weber have denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.