Seinfeld Defends Wife Against Plagiarism Charges, Says She "Isn't In This For The Money Or The Publicity"

New York Times   |  Motoko Rich   |   October 19, 2007 09:22 AM


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Jessica Seinfeld, the comedian Jerry Seinfeld's wife, has a hot best seller with "Deceptively Delicious," a cookbook for parents of picky eaters. Ms. Seinfeld's celebrity and an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" have helped propel the book to the No. 1 spot on the hardcover Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous list in The New York Times, where it will make its debut a week from Sunday.

But a number of readers posting on Amazon.com and Oprah.com and other Web sites have pointed out some similarities between Ms. Seinfeld's book, which was published this month by Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins, and another cookbook published by Running Press, an imprint of the Perseus Books Group, in April.

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- Shakespeares See Profile I'm a Fan of Shakespeares permalink

I seem to remember this golddigger leaving her millionaire fiancee at the altar basically to hook up with seinfeld at the peak of his popularity, but we misread her. She just wants to help families she says. Yeah, and she used to date broke.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:05 AM on 10/23/2007
- TJS See Profile I'm a Fan of TJS permalink

Most celebrities have their books written by ghost writers. I wonder if we are seeing the beginning of a new phenomenon, the "ghost chef?" I seriously doubt that Mrs. Seinfeld came up with these recipes on her own. For that matter, I doubt that husband Jerry eats the stuff in his wife's book.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:59 PM on 10/22/2007
- drblack See Profile I'm a Fan of drblack permalink

Oprah, Seinfeld are a bunch of no-talent arrogant scum bags.
They ride the coat tails of real talent and take the credit and money.
Anyone could do the jobs of either one.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:17 AM on 10/21/2007
- kirkland See Profile I'm a Fan of kirkland permalink

UGH! It is amazing to me how patronizing Seinfield , the Publisher , Oprah- all of them are when it comes to their assumption that those out of *the loop* will bob their heads like pooches watching a bisquit , following "their truth". VULGARIANS at the GATE! Could it be that the new peasant class ( common and vulgar, provincial ) are the nouveaux riche? Kinda like *1984* . What we see isn't *there* and what isn't *there*- we see. HA!
It is interesting to me to see Larry Davids work. He was the brilliance in Seinfield as he wrote TRUTH. Seinfield was a lucky guy to have Larry as his mouthpiece. He'd have been just another ny comic without him. He's has been smart enough to affiliate well ( David, Spielberg) and it seems to me that his wifes efforts and many of his at this point are just vanity pieces.
Big mistake , Jerry, Oprah, Nina ( Jessica) to underestimate how sophisticated John Q *is*.
Why do these people feel less ehtical than hookers to me?
hmmmmm.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:08 PM on 10/20/2007
- truth101 See Profile I'm a Fan of truth101 permalink

When Abe Lincoln was on the train going to Gettyburg he was busy writing his speech, and when he was finally through was relieved. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a woman was also writing so he walked over her to have a chat, and asked her about what she was writing. She said 'Oh MR.PRESIDENT it would not interest you at all its just a cookbook with CLASSIC RECIPES DATING FROM JULY 4th 1776....I start with what Jefferson had for dinner that night with his friend at the tavern next to INDEPENDENCE HALL."
LINCOLN WAS IMPRESSED AND ASKED TO SEE HER INTROUDCTION, WHICH READ
"Four score and seven yeasrs ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent a new nation and a lots of new recipes...."
Lincoln then gave her back her introdution
and politely complimented her, asking permission
to use her intro line in his speech. She was
totally flattered...and no doubt had he not be prematurely cut down himself would have mentioned this in his memoirs. Believe it or not.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:42 PM on 10/20/2007
- drblack See Profile I'm a Fan of drblack permalink

Anyone who appears on oprah to sell their wares is silly and pointless. Almost as silly and pointless as oprah and her cult of believers. How is the secret working out for you.
Oprah makes it clear ,if you are poor or in bad health it is your fault. You just didn't believe hard enough.
Her tax write offs don't count as charity.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:08 PM on 10/20/2007
- sneezeguard See Profile I'm a Fan of sneezeguard permalink

"as a writer it pains me to think about the author whose books was rejected by harper collins coz she is not a big name celebrity, and they accepted jessica seinfeld's book with similar concept.this is just disgusting..celebrities have too much power in publishing"


HAAAAAHAAAAAA.

It costs HarperCollins about $100,000 to produce a book. That's net of printing and promotion or an advance for the author. So if you're a nobody with no ability to get on free media, then sorry, you ain't getting a book deal these days. The question you have to ask yourself "writer," is 'what do you bring to the table to mitigate Harper's risk of about $250,000'? If the answer is 'zippo' except for a well written manuscript, then you're in the same boat as millions of other nobodies with well written unpublished books. That's why skanky Madonna and Bill OReilly will write children's books, and why you'll always be a 'writer' and never an 'author.' Sorry to have to break it to you.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:49 AM on 10/20/2007
- Newfycrat See Profile I'm a Fan of Newfycrat permalink

Unfortunately it is almost impossible to copyright a recipe, all you have to do is change one ingredient and it is a different recipe. Cooks and Chefs have been dealing with this for years, not only in cookbooks but in individual restaurants. A Chef comes up with a unique restaurant offering and other restaurants copy it. It has always be going on. And I do not think many chefs who publish recipes puts out the exact ingredients he uses in his own restaurants. Everyone has his secrets.
The thing that makes this unique to me is that she is obviously not a chef or unique cook, does not claim these are family recipes handed down for generations etc. But even with that from what I know about recipes and cookbooks, there is no legal remedy - otherwise the first person who made a brownie could say no one else can make brownies or produce recipes for them, for example.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:35 AM on 10/20/2007
- yossarrian See Profile I'm a Fan of yossarrian permalink

I've been a exec. chef for a long time. I was using pureed veggies in my kids meals 25 years ago. It's nothing new. Mothers have been doing this forever. These seinfelds are just a sleazy couple...from trying to screw the agent who brokered their house deal to this mess. This jerry slime did a gig a PAC in NJ last year. Every one i saw leaving that venue said the guy sucked, ripoff, unfunny and wanted their money back. Larry David, as we have seen, is the real talent and was even for the JS show. So what we have is a washed up hack comedian and his insufferalbe slut wife. Maybe they will just disappear after his stupid movie busts.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:22 AM on 10/20/2007
- CammyV See Profile I'm a Fan of CammyV permalink

Why do I have a problem picturing the wife of one of the wealthiest entertainers in the free world pureeing squash, and preparing mac and cheese for Jerry. Perhaps the chef was pureeing, but I doubt they eat mac and cheese like us po'folk.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:53 AM on 10/20/2007
- Libsrule See Profile I'm a Fan of Libsrule permalink

THAT was the first thing I thought of as well. I've seen a picture of his house and if we are to believe she does the cooking then we are to believe they live in a little three bedroom shack at the edge of town.

The house was bigger than the entire block I live on and the grounds were bigger than the town where I live.

It looked like something out of the days of Robber Barons back at the turn of the 19th Century.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:46 PM on 10/20/2007
- truth101 See Profile I'm a Fan of truth101 permalink

Someone quite recently emphasized that only morons and the very stupid believe there are simply coincidences, when in fact its far far far more probable the publisher here was up to no good
or as Hamlet observed when he saw the curtain move 'look...a rat.'

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:30 AM on 10/20/2007
- Meah See Profile I'm a Fan of Meah permalink

What a bunch of meanness. I saw Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah and she was great. She has recipes which she interchanges multiple vegetables in many dishes. She was very sweet and nice and her primary interest was to get her own children to eat properly. She even put all kinds of veggies in brownies. The point was to have children eat properly, and they demonstrated that these children would eat all kinds of vegetables. I do not think she plagerized. And I don't think unless somebody who wrote a book who said their recipes were just the same, should people judge her unfairly.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:45 PM on 10/19/2007
- bajanbeauty See Profile I'm a Fan of bajanbeauty permalink

(Another stay at home with nothing better to do than watch Oprah. Enough said.) Suggestion: Go back to school and learn how to spell. It'll be a more productive way to spend your time.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:41 AM on 10/20/2007
- cplKlyde See Profile I'm a Fan of cplKlyde permalink

Well we know she's an adulterer so plagerism wouldn't be out of the question.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:47 PM on 10/19/2007
- ViscountMontie See Profile I'm a Fan of ViscountMontie permalink

Down the well!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:08 PM on 10/19/2007
- Bulbul See Profile I'm a Fan of Bulbul permalink

Another story of greed and another loss of innocence. Sad, another wife hungry for something, tries to make trouble for the husband. Same thing happens in reverse order also !
Now, Oprah will be on watch list. The humiliation of another auther who lied, is well known. Difference between the two is, this lady`s husband is Seinfield. What would Oprah do ?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:30 PM on 10/19/2007
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