Woody Allen does not have to justify his opinion that American Apparel’s sexually charged ads are “sleazy,” a judge ruled yesterday.
The hipster clothing company had demanded that the Oscar-winning filmmaker back up his claim by identifying which of its ads — many of which feature scantily clad models — he meant.
But Manhattan federal Judge Thomas Griesa ruled that Allen had already shown that “he would not have voluntarily agreed to endorse” American Apparel’s products on two unauthorized billboards two years ago.
“There is no reason to require him to identify specific advertisements that he finds distasteful,” Griesa found.
Allen, who’s suing the firm for more than $10 million in damages, said in a deposition last year that he found American Apparel’s ads “sexually gross, in a witless and infantile way.” Bruce Golding