American Apparel won't be digging into Woody Allen's personal life in the trial the filmmaker/actor brought up against them for unauthorized using of his image.
The 73-year-old "Annie Hall" star filed a $10 million lawsuit against the clothing company giant after their billboard ads featured his image without permission.
The company responded by pointing out that his past scandals regarding his public breakups with his relationships, including actress Mia Farrow, and his shocking marriage to Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, make him worth less than $10 million.
Allen has requested a judge to block Farrow and Previn from being called as witnesses at the trial, saying the move by American Apparel is a "brutish attempt to smear and intimidate" him.
However, the company wants to clear that Allen's personal life is not the "central focus" of their dense.
CEO Dov Charney wrote on their website: "The media has misinformed the public that American Apparel supposedly plans to make Woody Allen's personal life the central focus of our defense. This is false."
"It has also been reported that American Apparel intends to call Mia Farrow or Soon Yi as witnesses in the upcoming trial. This is also false."
He added that he has a "deep respect" for the director, who is actually his "source of inspiration."
Charney said, "The false media reportage is an obfuscation of the key issue in the case, which is whether the use of an image from the film 'Annie Hall,' depicting Mr. Allen as the character Alvi Singer, for the purposes of evoking a societal discussion about these issues is protected by the First Amendment."
The trial is scheduled on May 18.
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