Timothee Chalamet
Instagram/tchalamet

The latest trove of Epstein files surprised the public by naming several unexpected celebrities, including Timothée Chalamet. However, one should note that the mention of the Dune star had nothing to do with the late financier and sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

Apparently, American publicist Peggy Siegal mentioned Chalamet when she updated Epstein about how she felt regarding Woody Allen's controversy and the moral solidarity behind the #MeToo movement in 2018.

The Leaked Correspondence Between Peggy Siegal And Jeffrey Epstein

On 27 January 2018, Siegal sent Epstein an email to apologise for missing his birthday. She also shared some updates about her whereabouts and asked Epstein about his trip to the Caribbean Island.

Then, Siegal expressed her dismay over what she described as a '#Me Too witch hunt' against disgraced filmmaker Woody Allen, saying it was about to ruin a 'global cinematic treasure,' making her feel 'sad.'

The publicist went on and mentioned Chalamet, who starred in Allen's 2019 romantic-comedy film A Rainy Day in New York. According to her, the young actor who donated his payout from the movie was 'sick about being forced' to take action by the media.

'His agents made him give his money away supp=sedly not as a sign of Woody's guilt, but support of hysterical women and =edia,' Siegal wrote in the unsealed documented shared on X (formerly Twitter). 'He is genuinely upset about the whole thing and at 22 is a pa=n in a bigger game.'

Siegal claimed that Chalamet had a hard time campaigning for his movie Call Me By Your Name because the press was 'hounding' him. She also mentioned that Chalamet would win an Oscar for his performance in the 2018 American biographical drama, Beautiful Boy.

Siegal predicted wrong, though, because despite Chalamet's outstanding performance, he did not earn an Academy Award nomination for the movie. Chalamet, however, was nominated for several major awards, including BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Critics' Choice Awards.

Chalamet's Public Apology And The Decision To Donate

Siegal may have been right about the press coming after Chalamet for working with Allen, who has been accused of sexual abuse. In an interview with CNN, he admitted he was hesitant to discuss his working relationship with the controversial director because 'what I say is only going to anger people.'

He later took to Instagram, explaining that he couldn't answer the questions related to Allen due to 'contractual obligations.' However, he clarified one thing – that he wanted to donate the money he made from Allen's movie.

'But what I can say is this: I don't want to profit from my work on the film, and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities: Time's Up, the LGBT Centre in New York, and Rainn [the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network],' Chalamet wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post (via The Guardian).

'I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all the people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.'

The Woody Allen Conflict And The Cost Of Association

The controversy surrounding Woody Allen is rooted in decades-old allegations of sexual abuse made by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow. The issue re-emerged with renewed force during the 2017 cultural reckoning.

Celebrities who worked with the controversial director were accused of complicity. Many called for Allen's cancellation, arguing that he shouldn't be given the platform in the industry.

Farrow told Gayle King in an interview in 2018 that her adoptive father 'touched my private parts' when she was 7, while playing with her toy train. Allen vehemently denied the allegation.

'It's so preposterous, and yet the smear has remained and they still prefer to cling to, if not the notion that I molested Dylan, then the possibility that I molested her,' Allen said in a statement. 'Nothing that I ever did with Dylan in my life could be misconstrued as that.'

Writer's pick