Jerry Seinfeld Fights Back At Defamation Suit

NEW YORK — Jerry Seinfeld claims a cookbook author is cooking up some fancy semantics by calling him an actor rather than a comedian to minimize the humor in statements she says defamed her.

Lawyers for Seinfeld say Missy Chase Lapine's lawyers resorted to the switch in words to describe Seinfeld when several weeks ago they filed a rewritten version of her lawsuit against him and his wife in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

"Jerry Seinfeld is an enormously wealthy and well-known actor," Lapine's revised lawsuit said. The original had called him a comedian.

Lapine, the author of "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals," accused Seinfeld's wife, Jessica Seinfeld, of plagiarizing her cookbook when in October she published her own, titled: "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food."

During an appearance on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," Jerry Seinfeld said Lapine was accusing his wife of "vegetable plagiarism" and compared her to the three-name killers of John Lennon and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"If you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins," Seinfeld said. "Mark David Chapman. And you know, James Earl Ray. So that's my concern."

His lawyers said in court papers filed late Tuesday: "No reasonable viewer could have thought that Seinfeld really meant that Lapine ... might become an `assassin' simply because she has three names."

Lapine's lawyers have said Seinfeld, best known for the sitcom "Seinfeld," used the Letterman appearance to begin a "malicious, premeditated and knowingly false and defamatory attack" on her.

"The issues of law will be decided by the court, and we are confident of the outcome," Lapine lawyer Howard B. Miller said Wednesday.

Seinfeld's lawyers asked a judge to toss out the lawsuit on First Amendment grounds.

In separate court papers, lawyers for Jessica Seinfeld accused Lapine of falsely claiming she invented the idea of hiding fruits and vegetables in children's meals when "countless prior works utilized this very same unprotectable idea," including a 1971 book. They called the lawsuit "opportunistic."

Comments

[luckyoldson]

Well, bad news.

I just found out somebody on my block gave their pet a pill with peanut butter wrapped around it...and everybody knows I INVENTED THAT PROCESS.

I'm filing suit in the morning.

[nibblybits]

Feel free. I hope the person you're suing, his/her spouse doesn't go on national TV and call you crazy and a possible assassin. Cuz I'm sure that won't hurt you in your business and embarrass you to your loved ones, right? As long as you have a sense of humor...

[Horus]

Well technically, depending on the type of pill luckyoldson is wrapping in peanut butter, he may very well be an assassin, a dog assassin. So then it wouldn't be slander would it? Now we're thinking!

[Horus]

Also , luckyoldson may not just be a dog assassin considering that I myself may eat a little ball of peanut butter, wholly unaware that it contained a clandestine pill, if I were to come across such...

[sussex]

That's a shame.

[Horus]

"No reasonable viewer could have thought that Seinfeld really meant that Lapine ... might become an `assassin' simply because she has three names."

This is the funniest thing I've read all day. Personally I think they are overestimating how reasonable the average American Viewer really is. I'll bet half the audience really did think that he meant she would become an "assassin", a quarter of that group already believes she is an assassin, and half of of that quarter blame her for the recent death of a relative.

[luckyoldson]

I'm not going to defend the average "American viewer," but c'mon...you really think people believe he was concerned about this woman becoming...an assassin??

Really?

[Horus]

LOL, let's hope not, luckyoldson, let's hope not.

But as H.L. Mencken once said, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."

Personally I've still got Ms. Lapine in my crosshairs with regards to my missing beagle, "Mr. Tophat". Afterall, the jury is still out on whether she is, in fact, AN ASSASSIN!!!

[luckyoldson]

Hey, I've got this great idea: When you give your pet a pill, wrap it in peanut butter first.

Okay, now if anybody else uses this "concept"...I want residuals.

[Calinative]

So absurd.
Bored wives that have all the money in the world and obviously don't cook. So they spend it stealing recipes and passing them off as their own. John and Jerry can now trade notes on how to handle their respective Recipegates.

[luckyoldson]

The woman who's suing also stole the damn recipes...they've been around forever.

Does she have "all the money in the world??"

Good lord...get off the Seinfeld's backs.

[monpetitesweet]

I think the thing that is so irritating is the special treatment that Seinfeld's wife got. I remember watching Lapine on the Today show several months before Seinfeld's wife was on the radar. When Lapine introduced her book, she was with Hoda Kotb on the Sunday Today show and was the last one on the segment. Not the most visible time, and then Seinfeld's wife comes on and gets prime time Today show(am after 7:30) and Oprah to promote the very same type of book.

[luckyoldson]

Oh, please.

This is nothing more than some twit smelling big dough through a silly lawsuit.

Do YOU actually think this woman invented the process of hiding fruits and vegetables in children's meals??

[nibblybits]

She's not claiming she invented it. She's claiming she put out a cookbook about it first, and then had some lame celebrity trophy wife copy it several months later. She's allowed to sue.

[DFry]

"Actor". "Comedian". Doesn't matter what terminology you use. Trashing someone is trashing someone. I don't know if I think she should win the case, but I think it at least has merit enough to go to court.

[luckyoldson]

It was a JOKE.

The man is a COMEDIAN.

Get over it.

[nibblybits]

What are you, his agent or his attorney? If he's a comedian, he should be obligated to be funny. Instead of defaming someone on TV while everyone listening squirms uncomfortably. Or maybe he should let his wife fight her own battles instead of sounding like an ass on TV.

[taurus96]

I agree. Wife was on every show promoting her book etc.Only because of her famous,rich,well known husband. Husband said very nasty things about this other lady.I liked him before this,now they both come off as "Bullies" with money and no class.

[zblog]

What a bunch of pathetic losers you people are. Your own failed lives have made you so bitter about someone else's success that you can't even appreciate that Seinfeld and David have given us the funniest sit-com in the history of television. It's even funnier than this laughable law suit. And almost as funny as some of these idiotic posts.

[CKieffer]

At what point did you see anyone discussing Larry David? At what point did you see us debating the merits of the Seinfeld show? We are perfectly capable to delineate between Jerry on the sit-com and Jerry sitting on national television attacking (truth in jest) a person he has probably never met. Meanwhile, his wife - - who did gain a great deal more publicity than the original author solely based on her marriage to Jerry - - blatantly ripped off another person's work. So, putting aside your blind adoration of a SITCOM; one must question: How would you feel if someone, famous and funny, did that to you? How would you feel if that person's spouse felt she had the right to take that idea from you and pass it off as her own? How would you feel if your character was called into question on national television? Judging by your post, you would say "It doesn't matter. He was once part of a funny sitcom."

I can say without doubt that were this situation reversed, neither Jerry nor his wife would appreciate it, find it frivolous or humorous. Meanwhile, if he has to harp on the difference between "comic" and "actor"... I would say that the frivolous aspect is firmly at his feet.

[thebirdstheword]

not quite as pathetic as someone who feels the need to defend them.

last time i checked, you weren't the deciding factor on what is good and what isn't.

[nibblybits]

So what if they made a succesful sitcom? They were compensated for it, weren't they? Does that give him the right to trash someone on national TV? I hope she sues his pants off!

[zblog]

Three more pathetic losers. To the first imbecile, ever see late night tv? 'Trashing someone on national tv' on a comedy show is called a joke. It happens every night on Leno, Letterman, Stewart, etc. Should they all be sued? To the official 'checker-in-chief', for the deciding factor on what is good and what isn't, I refer you to TV Guide's vast poll on the subject. Seinfeld was voted number one. I know, you don't respect TV Guide. You only read the New York Review of Books. But this third creep really made me chuckle. Kieffer, read the comments a little more slowly and you'll see the references to Larry David. Judging by your post, you tend to make up quotes and attribute them to other people. Why don't you find yourself an imaginary friend and compile a whole list of things that people never said? Better yet, file a suit against the school you attended.

[luckyoldson]

He didn't "trash" the woman.

For God's sake...IT WAS A JOKE.

Unless of course you actually believe she might become an assassin...and he was outing her.

[LisaSurfing]

Sales of "The Sneaky Chef" increased because of all of this. Seinfeld's book brought a lot of attention to this technique and other books written on the subject had their sales go up. Talk to anyone in marketing and they'll explain that the reason car dealerships are close together, stores are clustered together etc., is because publicity for one product or store helps everyone else selling something similar. The current housing crisis aside, homes usually sell better when there is more than one in an area on the market because people are drawn in to look at one and they usually then look at the other. I don't feel sorry for that woman at all. Her book sold more copies AFTER Seinfeld's book came out than it had before. As far as Jerry's comments to her - she was accusing his wife of plagiarism and he made jokes about her and her stupid law suit.

[nibblybits]

I guess as long as you're famous you can go on national TV and trash whomever you want. Even when the other party is perfectly within their rights to sue.

This was a fight between that lady and Seinfeld's wife. He should have stayed out of it and kept his fat mouth shut.

[abromber]

Perhaps you should take your own advice.

[GOPorganizedcrime]

You are missing the point altogether. Jerry Seinfeld'd wife is so talentless that she feels
entitled to rip off another woman's copyrighted, concept on how to get finicky children to eat
healthy foods. I don't know if his wife plagiarised the recipes as well but this woman should
be sued. It is hardly frivolous when a person's originally thought out ideas from the planning
to the finishing stages are repackaged by the wife of a celebrity icon and sold as your own work.
Even the title to Seinfeld's, wife's book is essentially the same title in different words---now that's talent.
I really can't blame Jerry S for trying to make light out of what must be an embarrassing situation for him. Unfortunatly he has added insult to injury by commenting like he did. Gee, you'd of thought Jerry
could've found someone a little less plain and unimpressive to marry then her.

[luckyoldson]

"Jerry Seinfeld'd wife is so talentless that she feels
entitled to rip off another woman's copyrighted, concept on how to get finicky children to eat..."

You believe this woman invented and "copyrighted" (DUH) this "concept??"

Get real.

[LisaSurfing]

pssssst ... here's one for you - get some fruit and squeeze it so that the juice comes out ... maybe add a little sugar, and then give it a cute name. You could invent a whole new genre of drinks, as well as a bunch of recipes. Go ahead, you can have the idea.

I didn't miss the point, I just don't agree with you.

[HC]

I wouldn't assume she's talentless...perhaps it's not for you to see anyway. Besides, how do you think she got him to commit?

[sufi66]

He's not the first celebrity defending his talentless spouse and he will not be the first to be diminished by the process.

These people have too much time on their hands.

[racom]

Obviously some one has too much time but I haven't seen his post here!!!

[Checquoline]

I wrote the first book. I was blending green peppers, cerery and onions into my tomato sauce years ago because my kids wouldn't eat them if they saw them. We all did that. Anything our kids didn't like we blended into the food. Actually....a person who doesn't think of that is the dense one. However, it must be frustraiting to write a book, get published and then have someone who probably never cooks come along and steal the show.

[dawlishgal]

How hard can it be to make up recipes? You can take traditional recipes (like the ones in Joy of Cooking) and modify them. That is what creative cooking is all about anyhow. Domestic chemistry, making somebody else's recipes into your own by changing them in non-critical ways...you don't want to substitute the yeast in bread with something like chocolate, for example...although my husband would eat it anyhow. He is THAT unfussy). . But to copy recipes verbatim and pretend they are yours....that ought to be a no-no. Not because it is so very different from what people usually do with recipes, but becaused it is just so damn LAZY.

[dukeman]

I put green peppers, celery, onions and carrots in to my spagetti sauce.

[MA]

Hey! She stole some of my recipes too!
Cindy McCain

[taurus96]

You made me laugh out loud. Thanks

[racom]

How does one steal stolen property, hold that, I'll ask Missy Chase Lapine.

[iktomi]

UGH ---I just spilled hot coffee on my lap. I never realized coffee was hot. Someone is going to pay for this inconvenience.

[spaceman3838]

on lawyer jackies advice i would say just dont put a bomb in your pants. it might destroy the evidence

[BadgersBite]

Hot coffee? You need to get the Maestro to get you some Chinese balm to put on that to heal it...

[iktomi]

The comment was made about just writing a check since Jerry is one of the wealthiest people in show business.

The advantage to having the assets, is you can turn the tables and afford to fight frivolous lawsuits with a vengeance. We are dealing with a scourge of "something for nothing" mentalities because too many checks have "just been written"

[thebirdstheword]

how do you know it's frivolous? i guess having money means that anything filed against you is frivolous, in your opinion.

[thebirdstheword]

the biggest crime is that we're still subjected to the stupid notion that the show Seinfeld was unique in that it was "a show about nothing" and was based on everyday situations.

um, isn't that the definition of a sitcom?

[spaceman3838]

you went to far. criticism of the seifeld show just will not be tolerated and what was unique about seinfeld was not that it was a show about nothing, it was because it was just so much f**king funnier then any other show on before or since.

[thebirdstheword]

you mean too far? oh my god, i went too far by saying that it wasn't a show about nothing. sorry, pal, but that's a fact. i never said it wasn't a good show.

the simpsons, in my opinion, is just as good as seinfeld, if not better.

to say it was "so much f**king funnier then (sic) any other show on before or since" is a stretch, at best. for every soup nazi episode, there was an average or less than average episode. the first season was god-awful.

[thebirdstheword]

let's see... first he admonishes an audience when they titter at michael richards bizarre "apology" for his racist rant, now he compares someone who files a lawsuit against him to assassins. wow.

not to mention subjecting us to those pathetic "Bee Movie TV Juniors" last year.

jerry should just move down to del boca vista and retire.

like many have said before me, he was by far the least thing funny on his own show.