Controversial director Woody Allen says that he is backing Andrew Cuomo in the race for New York City mayor.
The 89-year-old, who is a lifelong New Yorker, said that Cuomo’s main rival in the race and current favourite, Zohran Mamdani, was “inexperienced” and that the former state governor would do a “much better job.
“I’m gonna vote. I’m gonna vote for Cuomo,” Allen said during a recent episode of the Honesty with Bari Weiss podcast.
“I think Cuomo will do a much better job. Cuomo will be much better for New York. He’ll be much more efficient and he’ll be much more, he’ll just do a better job.”
It comes after a Marist poll, released Tuesday, put Mamdani head and shoulders above other candidates in the mayoral race, due to be decided on November 4.
Mamdani leads with 45 percent of the vote, with Cuomo in second place with 24 percent.
The pair is followed by Curtis Sliwa with 17 percent and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who recently announced he would not be dropping out, in last with 9 percent. Five percent of likely voters say they’re undecided.
“I think [Cuomo is] experienced and knows New York, and Mamdani is inexperienced,” Allen said during the podcast.
The Oscar-winning director’s glittering career has been marred over the years by a series of accusations and subsequent backlash, including allegations that he sexually assaulted his young daughter, Dylan Farrow, whom he adopted with actress Mia Farrow.
Allen has vehemently denied this accusation, though many other celebrities subsequently refused to work with him.
He also courted controversy after dating Farrow’s 19-year-old daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, in the early 1990s and later marrying her.
Cuomo has entered the New York City mayoral race in the hopes of a political comeback, following sexual harassment allegations that he denies, but that forced his resignation as governor.
