Defamer
exploitation gone wrong
Woody Allen Not Satisfied Being American Apparel's Honorary Hebrew Mascot
Apparently striving for the kind of publicity that ads featuring contorted, half-naked hipsters just can't buy, American Apparel's short-lived "Woody Allen is Our Spiritual Leader" campaign finally attracted a lawsuit this week. The AP reports that the writer-director, whose rabbi get-up from Annie Hall was featured last year on the clothing retailer's billboards (with the Yiddish caption "the holy rebbe") wants $10 million for "blatant misappropriation and commercial use of Allen's image":
In a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the actor-director said he does not endorse commercial products or services in the United States, which makes the May 2007 American Apparel billboards in Hollywood and New York and Web site displays "especially egregious and damaging."
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