Advertisement

American Apparel settles lawsuit with Woody Allen for $5 million

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

With a trial set to begin today, American Apparel opted to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Woody Allen. The actor-director sued the Los Angeles clothing retailer last year for $10 million for using his image on the company’s billboards without his permission.

But don’t expect an apology from American Apparel founder and chief executive Dov Charney, who said in a statement that it was his insurance company, not him, that opted to settle. Charney reportedly told journalists outside the New York courthouse that he was ‘not sorry of expressing myself.’

Advertisement

For his part, Allen blasted American Apparel, calling the company’s 1st Amendment defense ‘sheer nonsense’ and accusing it of trying ‘to smear me,’ the Associated Press reported.

The billboards, put up in 2007, depicted an image of Allen dressed as a Hasidic Jew from the movie ‘Annie Hall.’ The company removed both billboards -- one in Los Angeles, the other in New York City -- less than a week later after receiving a complaint from Allen’s representatives.

In a statement released today, Charney said the vast majority of the $5-million settlement would be paid by the retailer’s insurance company.

‘Few people know as well as Woody Allen how difficult it is to explain a joke without killing its humor,’ he said. ‘Ironically, I now find myself in the difficult position of having to make a similar explanation to Mr. Allen, a man who has long been one of my inspirations.’

-- Andrea Chang

Advertisement