In May, The Guardian reported on allegations that Megalopolis director Francis Ford Coppola had tried to kiss topless female extras performing in a nightclub scene. When asked about the allegations in a new interview with the New York Times Thursday, Coppola surprised the reporter by invoking his mother, Italia, and apparently denying the accusations. “My mother told me that if you make an advance toward a woman, it means you disrespect her, and the girls I had crushes on, I certainly didn’t disrespect them,” Coppola said. He then said that a photo—taken by the woman’s father—existed of him kissing one of the “girls” on the cheek. “I knew her when she was 9,” Coppola said; adding, “I’m not touchy-feely. I’m too shy.”