Woody Allen: Dylan's sex abuse claim casts shadow over Oscars

Allen denies 'disgraceful' charge – but should we be showering the man and his movies with accolades?

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(Image credit: 2011 AFP)

IS WOODY ALLEN, the 78-year-old auteur of an unrivalled string of indie hits from Annie Hall to Midnight in Paris, too sleazy as a man to be worthy of the accolades that keep coming his way on the movie awards circuit?

The question has once again been forced into the spotlight in the run-up to this year’s Oscars on 2 March, with his Blue Jasmine up for multiple awards, by the decision of the New York Times to publish a letter from Allen’s adoptive daughter, Dylan, describing the sexual abuse to which she has long alleged she was subjected.

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Charles Laurence is a US correspondent for The Week.co.uk. He is a former New York bureau chief for The Daily Telegraph. He divides his time between Manhattan and Woodstock, upstate New York.