Woody Allen’s Ex-Wife, Mia Farrow, Shares Tribute to Diane Keaton Despite Complicated Past

Mia Farrow honored Diane Keaton with a tribute in the wake of her death, despite the late actress’ decision to stand by and defend disgraced director Woody Allen.

Following the news that Keaton died on Saturday, Oct. 11, at the age of 79, Mia shared a photo of the late actress on Instagram, and accompanied the picture with a message about both her career and character.

“She was an absolutely wonderful actress – and a rare and fascinating person,” Mia, 80, wrote. “Thoughts with her children and sisters. Rest in peace Diane.”

Mia’s tribute to Keaton comes years after The Family Stone actress publicly defended Allen, 89, amid allegations of sexual abuse toward his and Mia’s daughter Dylan Farrow. (Allen has repeatedly denied the allegation over the years, and was never charged with a crime.)

Mia was in a long-term relationship with the famed director from 1980 until their separation in 1992 after their daughter Dylan, 40, accused him of sexual assault, and Allen revealed his affair with another one of Mia’s children, daughter Soon-Yi Previn. He and Previn, 55, have been married for more than two decades, while Mia remains estranged from her.

As the controversy surrounding Allen, Mia, Dylan and Previn entered the spotlight again in the wake of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, Keaton — who was romantically involved with Allen prior to his relationship with Mia — stood firmly behind him.

“Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him,” Keaton wrote on X in 2018. “It might be of interest to take a look at the 60 Minutes interview from 1992 and see what you think.” The late actress also linked to the interview in the post, in which Allen defended himself against Dylan and Mia’s accusations.

She had also been asked to directly respond to the child molestation accusations in a 2014 interview with The Guardian, and told the outlet: “I have nothing to say about that. Except: I believe my friend.”

Keaton was romantically involved with Allen in the ’60s and ’70s. It was the most public relationship the late actress — who memorably told PEOPLE she’s really glad” she never married — ever had.

While the pair ultimately went their separate ways, their relationship lived on in their collaborations. Keaton and Allen notably collaborated on several projects throughout the ‘70s, including Love and Death, Play It Again, Sam and Annie Hall, which earned Keaton a Best Actress at the Oscars — and which was long rumored to be inspired by their relationship. (Around the time of the film’s release, she told The New York Times: “It’s not true, but there are elements of truth in it.”)

Following the success of the rom-com classic, Keaton would work with Allen again in 1978’s Interiors and 1979’s Manhattan. Later, they also collaborated on 1993’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, in which Keaton was cast last-minute, replacing Mia amid their contentious split and custody battle.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Keaton and Allen remained good friends until her death, which left the director “distraught.”

“He is extremely distraught and surprised and upset” about the news of Keaton’s death, a source told PEOPLE exclusively, adding that the pair “remained friends.”