director Woody Allen asked a judge on Monday to stop a clothing company from putting his former longtime companion Mia Farrow and his wife, Farrow's adopted daughter, on the witness stand as it defends itself against his claims it used his image on billboards without permission. In papers filed in US District Court in Manhattan, Allen said Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc.'s requests to summon Farrow, her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn and others including his sister and Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt are a “brutish attempt to smear and intimidate” him. Allen sued American Apparel for $10 million after it used his image on its billboards in Hollywood and New York and on a Web site. Allen, who does not endorse products in the United States, said he had not authorized the displays, which the company said were up for a week. Jury selection in the civil trial is set for May 18. American Apparel lawyer Stuart Slotnick has said the company will make Allen's relationships with Farrow and Previn a focus of the trial to show that Allen's image is no longer worth the $10 million he believes his billboard appearance merits.
