Its no coincidence that RadarOnline waited until Casey Affleck took home a Critics Choice Award and was about to earn a Golden Globe nomination to rehash the details of the sexual harassment allegations filed against him in 2010. Even though the suit was settled and the exclusive documents Radar obtained are, in fact, the same documents that multiple outlets have been reporting for months, the website was presumably waiting for the right moment to strike.

In a fairly unprecedented phenomenon, the media appears to be using awards contests as cause to audit celebrities morality. Were seeing that dynamic play out with Affleck, an Oscar front-runner for his performance in Manchester by the Sea, one of the years indie hits. A Mashable story from September that renewed the attention surrounding Afflecks case weighed the actors awards odds and questioned why no one was discussing his allegations. With the 2017 Oscar race heating up over the past two months, the medias scrutiny has intensified. This week alone, BuzzFeed , New York magazine and The Hollywood Reporter published new pieces about the claims against Affleck. But why now?

As the court of public opinion grows less forgiving of celebrities transgressions, the attention concerning Afflecks past signals that the tenets of Hollywood awards may shift dramatically. The Academy is, in many ways, a well-appointed hive mind whose historical preferences make it possible to predict each years prizes. Those preferences also let us treat the Oscar race like a derby, with ponies shifting positions as the season lingers through late February. Studios spend millions of dollars to stage Oscar campaigns as if they were political elections. Its now understood that, to win, potential nominees must embrace what pundits call narratives.

Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, coasted all the way through last years awards on two counts: After four losses, he was overdue for a win, and anyway, didnt you hear how arduous it was to shoot The Revenant in that arctic tundra? Leo ate raw bison liver, for chrissake! Honor him! DiCaprio and his Revenant cohort repeated these anecdotes again and again. Theyre an example of what publicists want: a positive narrative that bolsters their candidates odds. The Affleck fracas is what they dont want: something that might dissuade voters from supporting that nominee. Afflecks narrative initially focused on the lesser-known Affleck brother finally finding a lead role that elevates him, but these resurfaced allegations cloud that arc.