He’ll take the money and run
Woody Allen has agreed to a $5 million settlement in his lawsuit accusing a clothing company of using an image parodying him as a rabbi without his permission.
The settlement with American Apparel Inc. was announced Monday morning as a trial was set to start in federal court in Manhattan.
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 was his insurance company’s idea to settle the suit, not his, adding: “I’m not sorry for expressing myself.”
Allen, 73, sued the trendy clothing company last year for $10 million after the advertisements turned up on billboards in Hollywood and New York and on a Web site.
Using a frame from the film “Annie Hall,” the ads depicted Allen as a Hasidic Jew – long beard, side curls, black hat – and featured Yiddish text meaning “the holy rebbe.”
Charney said the billboards were misunderstood: “We would never try to malign the dignity of Mr. Allen. … I hope to meet him on more friendly terms at a different point.”
She’s still sweet Caroline
Carolyn Kennedy says reports she dropped out of a U.S. Senate race because her family no longer recognized her as a cool, composed mother and wife were “absolute nonsense.”
A new book, “Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Dies” by Edward Klein, quotes an attorney as saying she became “loud, harsh and grating” while seeking the New York seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Asked why she pulled out, Kennedy said on NBC’s “Today” show: “That was the right decision. There are many ways to serve.”
From Kennedy to Nixon
“Sex and the City” actress Cynthia Nixon is engaged to her partner, Christine Marinoni.
Nixon, 43, showed off an engagement ring at an Action-Equals-Marriage Equality rally in midtown Manhattan on Sunday.
She has two children from her relationship with photographer Danny Mozes.
A step up, or down?
Former “Dancing With the Stars” contestant and “Girls Next Door” star Holly Madison is doing a different sort of dancing these days.
Hugh Hefner’s ex-girlfriend will replace former “Dancing” champion Kelly Monaco in “Peepshow,” a topless revue at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
Not their favorite U.S. male
Alec Baldwin’s joke about getting a Filipino mail-order bride provoked a sharp response in the Philippines, with one senator saying the “30 Rock” star faces violence if he ever visits.
Baldwin, divorced with a teenage daughter, said on David Letterman’s “Late Show” that he’d like more children, adding he was “thinking about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point … or a Russian one.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Joe Cocker is 65. Singer-actress Cher is 63. Actor Dave Thomas (“SCTV”) is 60. Guitarist Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go’s) is 51. Actor Bronson Pinchot is 50. Singer Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 50. TV personality Ted Allen (“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”) is 44. Actress Mindy Cohn (“Facts of Life”) is 43. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 37.