American Apparel tangles with Woody Allen

Woody Allen sued trendy clothier American Apparel for $10 million, alleging that it used his image on a billboard without his permission, thus damaging his reputation.

The case is set to go to trial and American Apparel's defense appears to be to make fun of Woody Allen, suggesting that his image was so compromised by his own sexual misadventures that there was really nothing left to damage.

"Woody Allen expects $10 million for use of his image on billboards that were up and down in less than one week. I think Woody Allen overestimates the value of his image," American Apparel lawyer Stuart Slotnick told The Associated Press. "Certainly, our belief is that after the various sex scandals that Woody Allen has been associated with, corporate America's desire to have Woody Allen endorse their product is not what he may believe it is."

So true: It's also worth noting that Allen's decision to sue the company for such an obscene amount of money over such a minor issue could be more harmful to his reputation than the advertisements.

It's a shame that this case has gone all the way to trial because Allen and the company's CEO, Dov Charney could have been great friends. Just think of all the great stories they could have sat around and shared. "I married my stepdaughter!" "You think that's cool? I masturbated in front of a Jane magazine reporter!"

American Apparel is also accusing Woody of failing to provide all the information it requested in discovery.

You have to give American Apparel props for generating so much publicity out of this lawsuit. More conventional companies would say "We don't comment on pending litigation" but Dov Charney has made the company's lawyer available to the media to discuss a trial that's set to begin next month.