Whoopi Goldberg sits at the edge of the The View desk and looks around an empty studio. "This old place used to seem a lot bigger," she sighs. "And, wait—didn't there used to be other people here?" She tries to remember. "An older one, two blonde ones? Maybe some others?" She shakes her head, laughing gently. "Ah, what am I saying. The quiet really does get to you..."

Woody Allen's lawyers and friends are quick to argue that the latest round of child abuse accusations against the actor are perfectly timed to destroy what should have been a fruitful awards season. But the real truth is that these allegations, these stories, and Allen's history with young women have been a matter of public record for at least 20 years.