US firm to fight Woody Allen’s $10m lawsuit

A US clothing chain is fighting a multi-million-dollar lawsuit brought by Woody Allen by claiming it cannot have damaged his reputation as the director has already ruined it himself.

The filmmaker is seeking $10 million (e750,000) after American Apparel used his image on billboards and on the internet without his permission.

But lawyers for the retailer have countered that sex scandals involving Allen have meant that his name has already been damaged, notably by his affair with then-wife Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn in 1992. Allen subsequently married Soon-Yi in 1997.