Allen Lawsuit Over Billboards Turns Racy

Defendant American Apparel uses director's love life against him
By Ambreen Ali,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 15, 2009 1:58 PM CDT
Allen Lawsuit Over Billboards Turns Racy
In this Sept. 20, 2008 file photo, U.S. film director Woody Allen appears at a news conference promoting his new film, ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona' in Barcelona, Spain.   (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, file)

American Apparel plans to defend a $10 million lawsuit brought by Woody Allen over the unauthorized use of his photo on billboards by arguing that the company hasn't hurt his image—because he got there first. A lawyer for the clothing company tells the AP that the director's checkered romantic history is "certainly relevant in assessing the value of an endorsement."

American Apparel—whose advertising Allen calls "sleazy" and "infantile"—has requested info on his endorsements after the revelation of his "relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, including the discovery of nude pictures." Then-girlfriend Mia Farrow, Previn's adoptive mother, dumped Allen in 1992 when she discovered the affair. He and Previn married in 1997.
(More Woody Allen stories.)

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