Allen agrees to $5m settlement in image lawsuit

WOODY ALLEN agreed yesterday to a $5 million (€3.7m) settlement in his lawsuit accusing a trendy clothing company of using an image parodying him as a rabbi without his permission.

Both sides announced the settlement, to be paid by American Apparel’s insurance company, on the morning a trial was to start in federal court in Manhattan. Reading from a statement outside court, Allen said he hoped the outcome “would discourage American Apparel or anyone else from ever trying such a thing again”.

American Apparel president, Dov Charney, told reporters it wasn’t his decision to settle. The company’s insurance company “controlled the defence” in the case, he said.