Jessica Seinfeld On Plagiarism Charges: "It Must Have Been Hard To See How Quickly My Book Took Off"

Jessica Seinfeld continued to promote her cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" on "The View" today. She also answered Barbara Walters' question about charges of recipe plagiarism. This spring Missy Chase Lapine wrote "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals," and some thought Jessica's recipes were eerily familiar.

When Jerry was on Letterman last month (watch here, scroll down) he mocked the charges of vegetable "plagiarism," but Jessica had yet to respond on air until today.

To paraphrase: Missy is jealous because her book didn't debut at the top of best-seller lists and get her on Oprah. And why would Jessica steal recipes, because she doesn't need the money, anyway.

Watch it:

From ABC, 11/19

Comments

[pilarmia]

WHAT A SHAME, SHE IS CONVINCED SHE IS A SUCCESS BECAUSE SHE HAS MONEY. MRS SEINFELD YOU ARE A FAILURE IN HUMANITY AND CLASS. THIS IS A CLEAR EXAMPLE THAT MONEY IS FAR FROM EVERYTHING.

[Balzac]

If you ever want to watch the Seinfeld's squirm, just bring up this topic and feel the scheudenfreud.

[Balzac]

I'm very amused by this saga.

She could have come clean, but now she's going to be explaining this forever.

[[e-mail]]

Jessica should keep her mouth shut. No one with an IQ higher than George Bush believes a word she says. She's a liar, a plagiarist, a gold digger and a whore.

[Plutonium239]

All this venom seems in excess of the situation, as though ulterior motives for attacking Mrs. Seinfeld are afoot. But aside from that observation, I have recently become devoted to many of the cooking programs on the FoodNetwork and have learned new (to me) methods for using regular items one would find easily in almost any cupboard or fridge. When I look up recipes on the FoodNetwork web site, I find dozens and dozens of similarly designed suggestions but I do not think I would consider this an example of plagiarism.
This is how the creative process works, we experiment with what came before, and build on it. When we can no longer do so, innovation will die. The difficulty is making sure all who participated realize credit for their contribution.
It seems to me Jessica Seinfeld is being targeted for her personal life rather than professional aspirations.

[Manhattanman]

Jerry and Jessica Snobfeld are abusing their power to misogynistically disparage Missy Chase Lapine as a jealous, crazy wacko.

Jessica is dressed like Snow White in this video, but she behaves like a Wicked Witch.

[kwestionauthority]

Unfortunate title.

[recipecollector]

what I think is disgraceful is that the publisher hasn't pulled Steinfeld's book off the shelves.
Once you get the two books, and compare the recipes, it immediately becomes clear that steinfeld plagerized her book. the recipes are identical; so is the format. Funny too that Lapine's book was on the shelves first. Steinfeld just plain got caught red-handed! Her husband's response? missy lapine is a "wacko." and jesicca's response is that the woman whose work she plagerized is jealous of her success. Get Steinfeld off the air and her book off the shelves.
By the way, does anyone wonder why Lapine hasn't sued? Was a financial settlement reached (instead of shoes) hushing her up, and allowing Jessca to continue to do the TV circuit, or is that too conspiracy theory?

[Manhattanman]

Jessica Snobfeld even plagiarized her first name, which is actually Nina.

I thought it was disgraceful that Jerry Snobfeld appeared on Letterman to call Missy Chase Lapine "a wacko" and compare her to "wacko assassins" like Lee Harvey Oswald and Mark David Chapman and John Wilkes Booth because she has "three names"... Mr. and Mrs. Snobfeld are the character assassins.

I wonder how many pairs of shoes Barbara Walters received for that unappetizing puff-piece.

[LoRiseAntlers]

After this,Ms.Lapine really needs to sue the pants
off this snotty plagiarist.

My wife has both books and clearly,Mrs.Seinfeld is a plagiarizing ninny trying to get something for nothing.

[Balzac]

How ridiculous.

[kellygrrrl]

Once a gold-digger, always a gold-digger ... whatever it takes, Jessica, huh?

I'd like to see a major media outlet give Missy some airtime. Gee, I wonder why she might be bitter?

[eaglecapri]

One more thing....

Wouldn't it have also been better if she revealed how she came up with the concept of avocado in brownies, spinach in brownies, etc. That, in itself, is a good story to tell. Who thinks of stuff like that?

Just looking at the still PICTURE of video (before playing it) totally reveals that she is very insecure about how she's going to pull this off and even shows the uneasiness in how she can keep up the charade.

[eaglecapri]

GUILTY! What's with the flailing arms and no eye contact?

The NY Times report the similarities between the two books are astounding: spinach in brownies, avocado in chocolate pudding and sweet potato in grilled cheese sandwiches! Come....onnnnnn.....! And why not mention or ask about these similarities so the View audience can judge for themselves? Instead, there is no mention and we are led to believe that since Mrs. Seinfeld is cohorting with Barbara Walters, she is not the liar? Unbelievable!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/nyregion/19seinfeld.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I understand that maybe NO recipe is exactly one's own, but avocado in chocolate pudding? Puhlease!!! Who thinks of stuff like that? The Sneaky Chef author is also a former publisher of Eating Well magazine. I believe her story. But, instead, we are supposed to believe Mrs. Seinfeld just because she is famous? Umph! Too bad for the little people!

Mrs. Seinfeld may not need the money, but everyone wants to do their own thing and have their own notoriety. Why should she be excluded?

[toneii]

Jerry Seinfeld is such a pathetic character... He made his entire career as a figment of Larry David and now here he is 10 years later still trying to claim fame off of that ancient schtick. And Curb Your Enthusiasm is so much better than Seinfeld anyway.

By the way, I see Larry David getting cameos on Hannah Montana, not Jerry Seinfeld. That's what I mean by sad... Jerry is kind of like Gary Burghoff as Radar O'Reilly - so type cast that he'll never work without being Seinfeld, a figment of someone else's imagination...

What a One trick pony... At least it would be bearable if he had invented himself, but he's more like Johnny Bravo - all he did was "fit the suit"...