Last but not least: Five million dollars for Woody
There are few directors known to control their image in the media as strictly as Woody Allen. When the fashion company American Apparel used his face in an advertisement in 2007, a dispute was inevitable. Now the company must pay Allen five million dollars.
US filmmaker Woody Allen has settled for five million dollars in damages for unauthorized advertising. He reached an agreement with the fashion company American Apparel on Monday just before the start of the trial he was seeking in New York. Allen had sued the company for ten million dollars after it depicted him on billboards in New York and Hollywood in 2007 as an orthodox Jew with temple curls and a long beard.
The director justified his complaint by stating that he had not advertised commercial products since the 1960s. The incident was therefore "outrageous and damaging" for him. In the statement of claim, Allen described himself as one of the most influential people in the history of American film. He said he owed his success, among other things, to the fact that he had kept his appearance strictly under control.
American Apparel then threatened Allen with a little mud-slinging. The company threatened to call Allen's longtime partner, actress Mia Farrow, to the stand to discuss the filmmaker's reputation. In the early 1990s, an affair between him and Farrow's then 22-year-old adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn became public. The two have since married. The threat of a mud fight is likely to have convinced Allen to reach an agreement.
The director justified his complaint by stating that he had not advertised commercial products since the 1960s. The incident was therefore "outrageous and damaging" for him. In the statement of claim, Allen described himself as one of the most influential people in the history of American film. He said he owed his success, among other things, to the fact that he had kept his appearance strictly under control.
American Apparel then threatened Allen with a little mud-slinging. The company threatened to call Allen's longtime partner, actress Mia Farrow, to the stand to discuss the filmmaker's reputation. In the early 1990s, an affair between him and Farrow's then 22-year-old adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn became public. The two have since married. The threat of a mud fight is likely to have convinced Allen to reach an agreement.
