Ronan Farrow Is A Pro At Shutting Down The Rumor Mill

Thanks to Ronan Farrow, we now know how to stop a rumor in its tracks — by answering an impertinent question with the perfect mix of wry humor and stark sincerity. A correspondent for Vulture was pressing Mia Farrow's son (and new MSNBC host) about the lingering questions regarding his paternity (Woody Allen versus Frank Sinatra, in case you've been under a rock). His response? "You know, I wasn’t there, so I don’t have a lot more to offer than you." Zing! But, it was a gentle, loaded-with-common-sense zinger most appropriate for the setting, a benefit dinner for The Blue Card, a nonprofit for Holocaust survivors.

That didn't stop reporter Ross Kenneth Urken, though, who went on to press Farrow on why he hasn't taken a paternity test. At that point, Farrow brought out the big guns — again, in a classy way. "Look, I grew up in a family with ten adopted siblings, so you know, if anything, I consider it an insult to them to obsess too much over the question of genetic provenance," he said. Our takeaway? A person's paternity is his or her own private business, and it seems more than a little inappropriate to obsess over a stranger's genetics in a public setting. But, if we were pressed on the issue, we'd say Ronan has all the class of Ol' Blue Eyes. (Vulture)