Woody Allen has filed a £52 million lawsuit against Amazon Studios, over their refusal to distribute his latest film.
The veteran director collaborated with Amazon Studios in 2017 on the film A Rainy Day In New York, which starred Timothée Chalamet, Selena Gomez and several other big-name stars.
However, after the rise of the Me Too movement towards the end of 2017, which led to a discussion around past sexual abuse allegations against Allen, it was reported that Amazon had shelved the film.
Having vehemently denied the accusations made against him, the filmmaker is now taking legal action against the distributor.
According to a lawsuit filed by Allen earlier this week, Amazon breached their contract by refusing to distribute his film “without any legal basis for doing so”, suggesting they dropped the film because of a “25-year old, baseless allegation”, for which he is now seeking $83 million (£52 million) in damages.
HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for Amazon Studios for comment.
Woody Allen has always maintained his innocence, after his stepdaughter Dylan Farrow has repeatedly accused him of molesting her when she was a child.
In 1992, he was investigated over a claim that he had sexually assaulted her at the family’s Connecticut home, though prosecutors did not charge him over the allegations, which he claims had been fabricated by his former partner Mia Farrow.
Since the rise of the Me Too movement, a number of A Rainy Day In New York cast members have expressed their regret over being involved in the project.
Revealing he didn’t want to profit from the film, Timothée Chalamet split his fee between three charities, including the Time’s Up fund, to whom Selena Gomez also made a donation of $1 million (£772k), exceeding the money she was paid to appear in the film.