Woody Allen has said he is "sad" for Harvey Weinstein as the producer faces numerous allegations of sexual assault.
"No one ever came to me or told me horror stories with any real seriousness," Allen told the BBC. "And they wouldn't, because you are not interested in it. You are interested in making your movie. But you do hear a million fanciful rumours all the time. And some turn out to be true and some - many - are just stories about this actress, or that actor."
"The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved," he added. "Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that is life is so messed up. There's no winners in that, it's just very, very sad and tragic for those poor women that had to go through that."
Allen said he hoped the revelations, which emerged after an investigation by the New York Times, would lead to "some amelioration", but said: "You also don't want it to lead to a witch hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself. That's not right either.
But sure, you hope that something like this could be transformed into a benefit for people rather than just a sad or tragic situation."
