The Heart Wants What It Wants

From his Fifth Avenue penthouse, Woody defends his love for Soon-Yi and heatedly denies allegations of child abuse

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A. She locked Soon-Yi in the bedroom in her apartment -- there's a lot of corroboration of this -- beat her on numerous occasions, smashed her with a chair, kicked her, raised black-and-blue marks so the kids at school said, Where did you get those? Finally, through the intervention of, I believe, a doctor, she got out of the house and went to live up in the college dormitory.

Q. Did you talk to Soon-Yi while this was happening?

A. She called me once when she could get to a phone and told me she was fine, that her mother would say she was suicidal, but it's untrue. I love you, and I don't regret a minute of this.

Q. Why did the whole thing become public?

A. Suddenly I got a memo from her lawyers saying no more visits at all. Something had taken place. When I called Mia, she just slammed down the phone. And then I was told by my lawyers she was accusing me of child molestation. I thought this was so crazy and so sick that I cannot in all conscience leave those kids in that atmosphere. So I said, I realize this is going to be rough, but I'm going to sue for custody of the children.

Q. Did you molest your daughter?

A. I have not molested my daughter, nor would I ever.

Q. What did happen in the house?

A. It was a Wednesday two weeks ago. I came in the midafternoon for a visit. Allegedly, I took her in the attic, according to what the child-protection agency told me was the allegation, and did unspeakable things to her. But nothing at all happened. Nothing. In light-years I wouldn't go into an attic, I wouldn't even know how to find Mia's attic. I'm a famous claustrophobic. And I would not molest my daughter.

Q. Were you ever with her alone?

A. I may have been with her alone for a second, a moment or something, but I wasn't really alone with her. I am not going to, on the eve of hammering out a separation agreement, drive to Connecticut and in Mia's house, an open house, where there are two baby-sitters and people are always walking in and out, I'm not going to take her and molest her.

Q. Mia was there?

A. Of course she was there.

Q. There must have been some incident, some basis for this charge?

A. No, nothing. I was never in a private room with Dylan. I slept downstairs that night in the guest bedroom. The next morning when I was about to leave, the kids ran downstairs and were jumping all over me and playing with me. And Dylan gave me some brochure from a toy store and she had checked off some toys she wanted me to get for her. Everything was wonderful.

Q. Have you seen Dylan's videotape?

A. No. And don't you think that's strange, that Mia made a videotape?

Q. Was there any other evidence?

A. She brought the kid to the doctor, and there is no physical evidence of anything.

Q. Then why do you think Mia and Dylan made the allegation?

A. The atmosphere up there in Connecticut is so rife with rage against me. So it's possible this emerged from that. But it also could have been made up intentionally.

Q. Have you talked to Mia recently?

A. Yes, in fact she called me five times today ((Friday)).

Q. What do you say to each other?

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