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Jerry Seinfeld's Wife Sued Over Cookbook

Comedian Also Named in Lawsuit Over Defamation Claims
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, AP
Posted: 2008-01-08 10:12:16
Filed Under: Celebrities in Court, Star Scandals
NEW YORK (Jan. 8) - An author who claims Jerry Seinfeld's wife plagiarized her cookbook sued the famous couple on Monday, finding no humor when the comedian compared the three-name author to the three-name killers of John Lennon and Martin Luther King Jr.

The lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages for copyright and trademark infringement, was brought in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by Missy Chase Lapine, the author of "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals."

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Dan Steinberg, AP

A Cookbook Scandal

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Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, seen here at the premiere of 'Bee Movie' on Oct. 28, 2007, is being sued for allegedly plagiarizing her cookbook 'Deceptively Delicious.'

"Jerry Seinfeld is an enormously wealthy and well-known comedian, and Jessica Seinfeld is his wife, but that does not give them license to slander and plagiarize," the lawsuit said.

The Seinfelds' lawyer, Richard Menaker, disputed Lapine's claims of defamation and plagiarism and suggested Lapine was seeking publicity to boost her book's sales.

"Both are without merit," Menaker said. "There's no truth in fact or law to this claim of plagiarism. The idea for Jessica Seinfeld's book came from her own experiences with her family out of her own kitchen."

And he said there was "no basis" for any kind of legal claim of defamation.

"Jerry Seinfeld is entitled to his opinions," Menaker said. "Even though Jerry Seinfeld is a public figure, he doesn't lose his right to free speech because of that."

In October, HarperCollins published Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food." The publisher is a unit of News Corp.

Hearing about the Seinfeld book in May while promoting her own book, published a month earlier, Lapine complained, and the war of words was under way. Lapine's book is published by The Perseus Books Group.

The lawsuit said the Seinfelds were warned even before the book was published that it had blatant similarities to Lapine's book.

Still, when Jerry Seinfeld appeared on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" in October, he suggested Lapine was a crackpot and declared his wife not guilty of "vegetable plagiarism," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also quoted him telling Letterman: "Now you know, having a career in show business, one of the fun facts of celebrity life is wackos will wait in the woodwork to pop out at certain moments of your life to inject a little adrenaline into your life experience."

It said Seinfeld also noted that Lapine has three names and that "if you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins."

Then Seinfeld added, "Mark David Chapman. And you know, James Earl Ray. So that's my concern," the lawsuit recalled.

Lennon was shot and killed outside his Manhattan apartment by Chapman, a deranged fan, on Dec. 8, 1980. King was assassinated by Ray on April 4, 1968, on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tenn.

The lawsuit said a reasonable person watching Seinfeld on Letterman's show would conclude that he had described Lapine as mentally ill with "potentially violent or, at a minimum, hostile, tendencies, proclivities and activities."

It argued that Lapine was not a public figure, does not suffer mental infirmity, is not a celebrity stalker, is not violent or dangerous, and does not engage in extortion or lies.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-01-07 18:40:30
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willicrl 06:03:08 AM Jan 15 2008

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her nickname is lady golddigger.

sewingdiva688 03:49:09 PM Jan 10 2008

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i work at a bookstore and i've seen the difference in sales between the two books. from the very beginning my co-workers and i have said that the only reason Deceptively Delicious sold better than The Sneaky Chef was because of her husband.

jabaileydc 08:55:27 AM Jan 10 2008

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Seinfeld's wife wanted her five minutes of fame, at the cost of someone else's work!What role would she play in life, other than an oven for his baby batter?

patinalazina 08:54:54 AM Jan 10 2008

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Jessica Seinfeld likes to cheat...she cheated on her first husband right after their honeymoon when she met Jerry. Jerry had more money.

eileenandconrad 09:27:00 AM Jan 09 2008

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The books are so very similar. I have Lapine's book and I saw Jessica's on Oprah. I believe that Jessica did get her ideas from Lapine's book. They are just too similar. It isn't right and I am glad that she is going the sue the Seinfeld's. I thought it was dishonest of Jessica to go on Oprah like that and acted like it was a brand new idea of her own. She acted like it was such a secret to hide veggies in kids foods and she came up with it. Oprah should be ashamed to not have researched this more and see that there was another book on the subject.

beer999999 01:23:53 AM Jan 09 2008

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hello

beer999999 01:23:40 AM Jan 09 2008

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I don't think anyone is ugly..we are all beautiful in our own way..like the song says...Seinfeld is my favorite show of all time! I would Never say someone was right just because they were famous though! It could be either...we will never really know unless there is some kind of proof.
I want to think the Seinfelds would not do this...I'm thinking why would they? They dont need the money? But I dont know for sure!
I would totally say they are not guilty..the only thing that bothers me is that Jessica's book has a woman ''winking'' on the cover and so does the lady's book...and I hear the lady's book came out first... But like I said...I just can't say for sure who is guilty.

kkgoose 01:02:38 AM Jan 09 2008

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Sienfeld was warned by her Lawyers while his wife's book was being published and the recipes inthe book are way too close....even the cover was made to look alike. I saw him defame the original writer on Letterman. He did it with Malice and forthought. He is a jerk and I hope she wins the case. By the way....he waited and dated a child in Highschool while doing Sienfeld....as a Nurse we call that PEDIFILE BEHAVIOR!!!!!! The man isnt worth the value of Dog Doo Doo/

trinidadladi 12:09:48 AM Jan 09 2008

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I WANT LEARN BOOK THEY LOVE IT COOK FOOD DIFFERENT EVERYTHING SMILE., LET KNOW PLS MY SCREEN TRINIDADLADI@AOL.COM INFO ME PLS THANK YOU FAVORITE JESSICA'S HUBBY SO FUN ON T.V. ALWAY LOVE IT THEY SMILE.

dcmmqm 11:46:00 PM Jan 08 2008

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Hello - why would Jessica Seinfeld do something so incredibly stupid? She doesn't need the money, she doesn't need the fame, and she doesn't have to cook. She didn't do anything wrong. She is not guilty of anything. This woman needs to get a life and stop trying to scam celebrities. Hello

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