KEY POINTS:
He's one of the film world's biggest names - the man with three Oscars and a lifetime of controversy and eccentricity. The other's one of New Zealand's wealthiest men - a playboy businessman with charming good looks and a personal wealth of $500 million.
Woody Allen and Eric Watson may be worlds apart but right now they're locked in a nasty legal spat over whether one of Watson's companies has illegally used an image of Allen in its advertising. Allen is suing American Apparel for $10 million after the company erected billboards featuring Allen dressed as a Hasidic Jew.
Watson's firm Endeavour Corp took over American Apparel - the United States' biggest T-shirt manufacturer - last year.
Allen is seething that his image - a frame from Annie Hall, which won Allen a best director Oscar - was used without his permission. He said he did not endorse commercial products in the US, making last year's billboards - erected in Hollywood and New York - "especially egregious and damaging".
But a spokesman from American Apparel, which is known for racy advertising featuring scantily clad young women, has defended the use of Allen's image.
A company spokesperson claimed the billboards were not in fact an ad campaign, but "a social parody".
The spokesperson told one news organisation that while billboards were usually erected to make money through clothing sales, "We also use them as a vehicle for non-commercial, social and political commentary".
The image showed Allen, 72, dressed as a Hasidic Jew with a long beard and black hat and Yiddish text meaning "the holy rebbe". The words "American Apparel" were also on the billboard.
Allen's lawsuit says the billboards falsely and blatantly implied the silver screen legend endorsed or was associated with American Apparel. At least $10 million in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages are sought. But it seems the Watson-led company - he and American billionaire John Ledecky created Endeavor Acquisition Corp, a "blank-cheque" company listed in December 2005 after raising nearly $US130 million - is keen to avoid court. A company spokesman said every effort would be made to settle it amicably.
WOODY VERSUS ERIC
Woody Allen
Film director, actor, comedian
Age: 72
Oscars: 3 (nominated 21 times)
Google entries: 8.9 million
Hobbies: Playing the clarinet
Famous previous loves: Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow
Infamous for: His relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Farrow
Eric Watson
Investment businessman
Age: Late 40s
Oscars: 0, but estimated to be worth $500m.
Google entries: 1190 (NZ entries)
Hobbies: Horse racing
Famous previous loves: Nicky Watson and linked to Nicole Kidman
Infamous for: Fisticuffs with another film star - Kiwi Russell Crowe.
