Woody Allen roasted longtime friend and colleague Diane Keaton during a rare surprise appearance honoring her as the 45th recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award.
Mr. Allen teased the “Annie Hall” star about her battle with bulimia in front of a crowd Thursday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Deadline reported.
“I didn’t know she was bulimic. These things came out in the book,” he said, referring to Ms. Keaton’s 2011 book, “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty.”
“We would be having dinner, she told me that she loved me and then she throws up. And we’re at these high-end restaurants, I mean $400 for dinners. If I’d known she would throw them up I would have taken her to Pizza Hut and saved a fortune,” the director joked.
Mr. Allen, who briefly dated Ms. Keaton in the early 1970s, also joked about appreciating his longtime muse’s unconventional beauty.
“Again, by ’conventional’ I mean ’pleasing to the eye.’ She dresses, as you know, to hide her sexuality. She’s done a great job, because it’s never emerged over the years,” he said, BuzzFeed reported.
“But she’s a beautiful girl and she’s never succumbed to any face work or anything. She’s very uncompromising. She prefers to look old,” he cracked.
“I love to tease her,” he concluded. “From the minute I met her she was a great, great inspiration to me. Much of what I’ve accomplished in my life I owe, for sure, to her. This is a woman who is great at everything she does.”
Mr. Allen has mostly stayed out of the limelight since 2014 when his estranged daughter, Dylan Farrow, renewed molestation allegations against him, claiming he sexually assaulted her when she was 7 after he and actress Mia Farrow adopted her. Mr. Allen has vehemently denied the claims.
The director’s appearance Thursday night was a “tightly held surprise only a few people knew about,” according to Deadline. His entrance to the stage was reportedly met with a standing ovation.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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