American Apparel settles Woody Allen case: No love for Dov

For all his tough talk about 1st Amendment issues, Canadian-born American Apparel founder Dov Charney has apparently folded like a pair of jersey leggings in his battle with actor-director Woody Allen.

The Los Angeles Times Business section reports this morning that a $5-million settlement — to be paid by American Apparel's insurance company — was reached this morning just as the trial had been about to get under way in a federal court in Manhattan.

Based on his comments to reporters afterward, Charney seemed none too happy with the outcome, citing American Apparel's insurance company, which he said "controlled the defense" and decided to settle.

Still, it was half the $10 million Allen sought after billboards bearing unauthorized images of him — a still from "Annie Hall" depicting him with a beard, black side curls and hat in a style commonly worn by Hasidic Jews — appeared in Los Angeles and New York City as advertisements for the Los Angeles-based maker of  T-shirts, leggings, shorts and socks.

— Adam Tschorn

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Top photo: Woody Allen outside a federal courthouse in Manhattan this morning. Credit: Seth Wenig / Associated Press. Bottom photo: American Apparel founder Dov Charney in a January 2008 file photo. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Hegel]

I wanted to see if that argument would hold up. American Apparel has been pretty outspoken about their right to use their medium to speak out on issues. I guess they're still a business, though I never did see this one actually going to trial.

They posted their statement up, in case you didn't see it. It's a response to the lawsuit.
http://www.americanapparel.net/presscenter/dailyupdate/dailyUp.asp?d=52&t=1724

It's funny how the insurance company is picking this up though. What the heck is this filed under?