• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, May 13, 2016

Hollywood scandals may be a gold mine for celebrity gossip magazines, but for trade publications covering the entertainment industry, they have always been more like minefields. Editors grapple with the difficult task of balancing editorial integrity, sensationalism and the need to maintain access to big stars.

Now this tightrope act has become even more complicated, as a broader social movement demands more scrutiny of sexual assault and abuse allegations that were previously hushed up.

This week, The Hollywood Reporter courted controversy — and got it — with the publication of a scathing op-ed by Woody Allen’s son Ronan Farrow, slamming entertainment journalists for essentially giving the legendary filmmaker a pass on charges of sexual abuse levied against him by his daughter Dylan (Farrow’s older sister).

The decision to publish the essay got THR promptly disinvited from the premiere events for Allen’s new film, “Cafe Society,” at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this week. Allen publicist Leslee Dart explained the ban: “It’s only natural that I would show displeasure when the press — in this case, The Hollywood Reporter — goes out of its way to be harmful to my client.”

The ban was fitting, as Farrow’s essay focused on the very same aspects of the Hollywood publicity machine that he claims have allowed Allen to escape serious press scrutiny:

“Being in the media as my sister’s story made headlines, and Woody Allen’s PR engine revved into action, gave me a window into just how potent the pressure can be to take the easy way out. Every day, colleagues at news organizations forwarded me the emails blasted out by Allen’s powerful publicist, who had years earlier orchestrated a robust publicity campaign to validate my father’s sexual relationship with another one of my siblings.”

Farrow also noted: “Reporters on the receiving end of this kind of PR blitz have to wonder if deviating from the talking points might jeopardize their access to all the other A-list clients.”

Of course, THR isn’t exempt from the charge of softball coverage.

Farrow’s essay comes in response to a more sympathetic article focusing on Allen’s new movie published by the entertainment trade pub last week, which he called “a sterling example of how not to talk about sexual assault.”

On that note, Farrow emphasized: “Confronting a subject with allegations from women or children, not backed by a simple, dispositive legal ruling is hard. It means having those tough newsroom conversations, making the case for burning bridges with powerful public figures. It means going up against angry fans and angry publicists…

"We are witnessing a sea change in how we talk about sexual assault and abuse. But there is more work to do to build a culture where women like my sister are no longer treated as if they are invisible. It’s time to ask some hard questions.”