News came today that ’70s gym teacher staple neon tights dispensary and actually awesome hoodie outlet American Apparel has agreed to pay director Woody Allen five million dollars to settle his lawsuit over their inscrutable misuse of Annie Hall imagery. Titillating for sure, but one can’t help but wonder: are they trying to distract us from their financials? After the jump, some very bad business news that’s about to be buried. The question it begs: is American Apparel at an end?

Ok, “at an end” may be an over-reach, but something big is afoot. While American Apparel isn’t in the death spiral, things aren’t exactly looking awesome. Despite status as the only remaining 100% American textile manufacturer and their ever-increasing cred, the clothing company reported a comparable 7% decrease in sales in April and it’s being estimated that their first quarter will dip into the red with a five cents-a-share loss (last year this time, they were operating at a two-cent profit).

Now, I’m no cynic, but it is interesting to announce a sensational lawsuit settlement on Monday morning, then quietly have a conference call about your financials later the same afternoon. I wonder which story will get all the attention?

It’s sort of like using the “Legalize LA” campaign to distract from the fact that the work in sweat shops could also be descibed as “vertically integrated manufaturing” (what does that even mean!?)  or semi-clad sluts to distract from the fact that your plain t-shirts are unbelievably overpriced.