The lawsuit filed by Woody Allen against American Apparel for the unauthorized use of his image on numerous billboards and online has been settled with Woody pocketing $5 million.
The image used was of Woody as a Hasidic Jew and was taken from the movie Annie Hall. Other than the photo, the only graphic elements in the ad were the words “American Apparel” and “the hole rebbe” written in Yiddish. The billboards popped up in Hollywood and New York City before the actor/director, who is notoriously protective of his image, sued the company for $10 million. The case was settled just before jury selection was to begin, but after a good bit of legal drama had already played out, including American Apparel’s threat to call Woody’s ex-partner Mia Farrow and his current wife Soon-Yi Previn as witnesses.
Speaking outside of the courtroom, Allen said, “Threats and press leaks by American Apparel designed to smear me did not work, and a scheme to call a long list of witnesses who had absolutely nothing to do with the case was also disallowed by the court … I suspect this dose of legal reality led to their 11th-hour settlement.” Addressing the size of the settlement, he claims, “A jury might have awarded me more money, but this is not how I make my living.”
Here’s one of the billboards that started the whole Hebrewhaha:
But don’t think for a moment the headache is over for Woody! The amount of publicity the incident has generated is sparking a number of controversial copycat ad campaigns all over the country. Starcasm photographers have been scouring urban landscapes near and far and have found a number of culprits. Here are a few of the best (worst?) examples:
If you see any more Woody billboards out there (or in the Photoshop folder on your computer) feel free to post ’em up in the comments section!
