Recently it has come to light that actress and model Christina Engelhardt (originally Babi Christina Engelhardt) has claimed that she had a relationship with director Woody Allen when she was 16 and he was 41. Allen has been accused before of having an inappropriate sexual past with young girls, Dylan Farrow his stepdaughter claims the director molested her while he was married to her mother Mia Farrow. Allen denied the claims and eventually went on to marry Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. Previn and Allen are still together.
5 facts about Christina Engelhardt and her teenage relationship with Woody Allen
Engelhardt says she’s not trying to take Allen down
In the age of #MeToo, Engelhardt says that is not her angle, “It’s almost as if I’m now expected to trash him.” She thought what she and Allen had was special and enjoyed their time together. “What made me speak is I thought I could provide a perspective,” Engelhardt told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m not attacking Woody. This is not ‘bring down this man.’ I’m talking about my love story. This made me who I am. I have no regrets.”
Engelhardt was the partial inspiration for a character in Allen’s film
The 1979 film Manhattan came out three years after Engelhardt and Allen started their secret relationship. The story centers around 42-year-old Isaac “Ike” Davis (played by Allen) who enters into a sexual relationship with 17-year-old Tracy (played by Mariel Hemingway). The film has been controversial from the start, but Engelhardt says the movie itself is impressive. “It was why I liked him and why I’m still impressed with him as an artist,” Engelhardt said. “How he played with characters in his movies, and how he played with me.”
Allen ‘used’ Engelhardt as a plaything with Mia Farrow
About a year into their romance Allen began to introduce other women into their sexual relationship for threesomes. Engelhardt says the experiences were “interesting ― a ’70s exploration.” After four years of being together, Allen introduced Engelhardt to his new “girlfriend” Mia Farrow. The three engaged in a “‘handful’ of three-way sex sessions.” Engelhardt says she didn’t realize what was happening at the time, “It wasn’t until after it was done when I really had time to think of how twisted it was when we were together… and how I was little more than a plaything. While we were together, the whole thing was a game that was being operated solely by Woody so we never quite knew where we stood.”
Engelhardt says she did begin to see Farrow and Allen as a mother-father duo
“To me, that whole relationship was very Freudian: how I admired them, how he’d already broken me in, how I let that be all right,” she said.
Engelhardt shared a letter that Allen wrote to her.
The actress and model shared a letter that her past lover sent to her years later. “Dear Christina, Thank you so much for the Fellini tape. I was always a great fan of his movies. I hope you’re happy and well. I recall our times together fondly. If you’re ever in New York I would love you to meet my wife – she’d like you. We get out to California every so often. If you’d like I’d call and perhaps we could all get together. Anyhow, it was very thoughtful of you to send me this documentary. I spoke with Fellini once but never met him. Best, Woody Allen”
