The mere mention of Woody Allen’s name now invokes more questions than a game of Cluedo.

Following the recent resurfacing of accusations of sexual abuse by his adopted daughter, the iconic New York filmmaker’s life looks as though it will be left under cloud of suspicion forever.

Dylan Farrow’s open letter to the New York Times accusing her father of assaulting her as a child was clearly timed to coincide with the upcoming Oscars, where the filmmaker is shortlisted for Best Original Screenplay.

“What’s your favourite Woody Allen movie?” wrote the 28-year-old.

“Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, 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.”

The ensuing public discussion of the allegations led to a depressing, often sinister and unhelpful way in which to tackle the issue of child abuse.

Two warring celebrities, at each other’s throats 22 years after they split, saw America’s newspaper and magazine editors clambering for the latest exclusive.

However, the alleged abuse was no less worthy than the hundreds of cases that go unrecorded in the US courts each day.

Dylan’s mother Mia Farrow, who turned 69 at the weekend, has never shied away from making public her hatred of Allen, her partner for 12 years.

Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
 

Ever since her discovery in 1992 that he was having an affair with Soon-Yi, then 18 or 20-years-old (she doesn’t have a birth certificate), Farrow has led a scorched-earth campaign of revenge against him.

As Allen’s mistress was Farrow’s adopted daughter with previous partner Andre Previn, understandably she was incensed over the betrayal.

And during the ensuing custody battle, the actress filed charges against Allen, now 78, claiming he had molested Dylan.

The director adamantly denied the allegations. The then seven-year-old was taken from one psychologist to another and forced to recount her story over and over again to see if she was lying.

However, during the case the head doctor of the police-appointed medical team gave sworn testimony which supported Allen.

In court he claimed Dylan “either invented the story under the stress of living in a volatile and unhealthy home or that it was planted in her mind by her mother”.

Allen has always continued to refute the allegations, and did so again in the New York Times at the weekend, and he has never been charged with, or convicted of, a crime relating to them.

 The bitter custody fight between Farrow and Allen saw her eventually granted exclusive custody rights.

With next month’s Oscars on the horizon, in which Allen's film Blue Jasmine is up for three awards, Hollywood’s A-listers are inevitably dividing into Team Allen and Team Farrow. Only last week the Twitter hashtag #ibelievedylanfarrow was trending.

Whichever side you pick, one fact remains and that is Dylan is a victim of abuse – either at the hands of a father, sexually, or of a mother emotionally.