Woody Allen's reps have strongly denied the child abuse allegations made against him by his estranged daughter, Dylan Farrow.
An open letter written by Dylan, Allen's adopted daughter with Mia Farrow, spread like wildfire over the weekend after she detailed her memories of being sexually assaulted by the Hollywood legend when she was just seven years old.
"When I was seven years old," she wrote on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's blog, "Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me."
Dylan then called out the stars of Allen's latest film, 'Blue Jasmine', for turning a "blind eye" to the accusations, which have long been public knowledge. She specifically asked Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett and Louis CK: "What if it had been your child?"
A 1992 court investigation did not find credible evidence of abuse. The Connecticut prosecutor who chose not to file charges against the director at the time recently told The Associated Press that the statute of limitations ran out on Farrow's accusations at least 15 years ago.
"Mr Allen has read the article and found it untrue and disgraceful," Allen's publicist told The Hollywood Reporter. "He will be responding very soon... At the time, a thorough investigation was conducted by court appointed independent experts. The experts concluded there was no credible evidence of molestation; that Dylan Farrow had an inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality; and that Dylan Farrow had likely been coached by her mother Mia Farrow. No charges were ever filed."
Allen's attorney, Elkan Abramowitz, also released a statement: "It is tragic that after 20 years a story engineered by a vengeful lover resurfaces after it was fully vetted and rejected by independent authorities. The one to blame for Dylan's distress is neither Dylan nor Woody Allen."
Sony Pictures Classics, the distributor of 'Blue Jasmine', also defended Allen: "We have had a long, productive and rewarding relationship with Mr Allen. This is a very complicated situation and a tragedy for everyone involved. Mr Allen has never been charged in relationship to any of this, and therefore deserves our presumption of innocence."
In a very thinly veiled defence of Cate Blanchett's Oscar campaign for 'Blue Jasmine', the studio went on to point out that the film was a collaborative effort: "Films are major efforts of collaboration. There are scores of artists and crafts people behind 'Blue Jasmine'. We support and celebrate their extraordinary work here, and count 'Blue Jasmine' as a major achievement of Mr Allen's career."
Blanchett herself briefly commented on the allegations as she was ushered into the Santa Barbara International Film Festival: "It's obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some resolution and peace."
The longstanding allegation of abuse had gained traction recently after Woody Allen won a Golden Globe lifetime achievement award. Farrow's open letter came just days after The Daily Beast published 'The Woody Allen Allegations: Not So Fast', an article that sought to defend Allen.
