Elisabeth Hasselbeck Sued For Plagiarism Over G-Free Diet Book

BOSTON — Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a co-host of ABC's "The View," has been accused of plagiarism.

A lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts alleges that Hasselbeck lifted "word for word" content from a book on celiac disease written by a self-published author on Cape Cod.

Hasselbeck's book, "The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide," has appeared over the past month on several best-seller lists.

Author Susan Hassett filed the lawsuit Monday, saying she sent Hasselbeck a copy of her "Living With Celiac Disease" book as a courtesy after the TV celebrity disclosed she had the illness last year.

The lawsuit says Hasselbeck's book reproduces lists of grains containing gluten along with scientific names of the grains.

Hasselbeck's book "includes dozens of paraphrased as well as word for word regurgitations of phrases" from Hassett's book, the lawsuit claims, but it doesn't cite specific examples.

The lawsuit also says the books have a similar organization and chapter format.

Hasselbeck said in a statement that the allegations are baseless and she worked "diligently and tirelessly" on the book and was disappointed by efforts to discredit her work.

Comments

[dazed]

Hasselbeck is a walking talking point.

[Akat1973]

I believe this totally- she is exactly like her best bud Palin. And every single day on the view she repeats the Republican-faux so called news talking points no matter what anyone else is speaking of!

[tomasedison]

Elisabeth married rich, and that was THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT of her lifetime.

[freelyb]

It's the only way famous Republican women can write. The only talent they seem to have is self-promotion.

[CherokeeGirl]

No wonder she likes Sarah Palin, she's just like her. Never admits she's wrong and defends lies.

Now it all make sense!

[lydiajean]

Biden was caught in the same act but the public loved him???

[Cubanmom]

Another typical Republican. They are falling like flies. What goes around comes around, its karma!

[Archivist1000]

I quit watching The View a while ago .... got sick of listening to EH's mindless repetitions of FOX talking points. I enjoy a good debate of IDEAS ... but there can be no debate, if the people involved don't understand what they are saying, and that is what EH sounds like to me.

It's not about agreeing with her statements, or disagreeing either. She just doesn't seem to understand what she is mouthing. I wish BW would find a 'conservative' spokesperson who at least can support her arguments when she makes them.

EH is just too 'simple' to have written a book .... but I also don't doubt that she THINKS she wrote that book from her own ideas. Her mind is a sponge.

[ladeangelis]

EH is not bright enough to write a book on her own. On The View, she has a paper at all times, in front of her, and she is very good at memorizing as well. She makes the show very hard to watch. Yesterday, there was a 30 second reply about the lawsuit. As if most people would believe anything she says anyway. The last 15 minutes were all about her having her baby, so naturally I turned off the TV.

[EngPhD]

I completely agree. EH is simply NOT bright enough to research, yet alone write, her own book on anything as far as I am concerned. I do not watch "The View" mostly because of her, despite my enjoyment of Whoopi, Joy, and Barbara. No two books are ever that closely related in words, ideas, format, etc. unless one of the authors "borrowed" from the other. The least she could have done was to give credit to the original author/researcher while explaining HER OWN experiences with the disease.

[Hope Lives]

Women are my favorite (as friends) but I can't help but smile when a rethug starts to to look 40ish.

[IMissAmerica]

Nice move, right out of the Cindy McCain playbook....

[ibsteve2u]

It would be a whole lot easier to just accept Hasselbeck at her word, if she didn't make it quite clear that she is a devout Republican, a group that never fails to demonstrate that their morality, ethics, patriotism, and religion all come to a screeching halt right at the edge of their wallets.

[EngPhD]

You mean a group who never ceases to amaze the American people by going AGAINST its own beliefs. Hence the latest Republican in the spotlife: Sanford (the govenor of South Carolina). And by the way, I am not a Republican or a Democrat. I am an Independent.

[igmond50]

Too broad a brush...very small minded feedback

[PaiaGirl]

Maybe, but Hasselback deserves it. She's just a mindless echo of Faux News

[casey33]

I am not personally a fan of Elisabeth's, but I feel this is a very clever way for Susan Hassett to get publicity for her book. I do believe that Elisabeth did her own research for her disease, as anyone with a life-altering condition would do.

[faithnj]

....ack. a person may do their own research into a subject, but that doesn't make them an original thinker or writer. Sorry.....Jerry Seinfeld's wife plagiarized a specialty cookbook. (I read both books, and I'd put money on that..the similarities between the two books were nothing short of astonishing.) And as much as Hasselbeck probably THINKS she did the right thing, my bet is that she needed to give a bit more credit than she thought was due. Time will tell.

[VOTER]

Sure, Elisabeth did her own research but it was by using Hassett's book.
There are many examples to prove it but I find one to be especially interesting.

Hassett used the word, "isle" when describing shopping in a grocery store.

Hasselbeck spells the word the same way. "Isle" and not Aisle.

Coincidence?

NO WAY!

[LittleSanityLeft]

Where's the proof to support Hassett's claims? If there are dozens of examples why isn't even one offered up as proof?

[casey33]

Not quite sure how you can say Elisabeth did her research by using Hassett's book. I rather doubt Elisabeth waited to do research on her disease until she received the book from Hassett. She was diagnosed years ago, so I can't imagine Hassett's book told her anything she didn't already know about the disease. As a parent of a child with a chronic disease, I can tell you the research begins the moment you receive the diagnosis. If you were to purchase 10 books on celiac disease, I'm quite sure you would read alot of the same information in all of the books. I'm not saying she didn't take "words" out of Hassett's book, I'm just saying it seems people are quick to blame her because of their personal opinions of her. Like I said, I'm not particularly a fan, but I say innocent until proven guilty.

[Silvergirl52]

Oooh, I love that spelling of aisle.

Does that mean that both authors meant to sent people to an island to buy their food? Will Elizabeth have to go back to Survivor to buy her groceries, not in the Outback, but on an island this time? Stay tuned!

I hope Liz gets her due.

[skippyB]

And when did she have the time for that? While designing her QVC clothing line, memorizing Fox script for The View, lobbying the White House Social Secretary (ex - but that's when she would have been doing her hours of research), stumping for Sarah Palin, working out, getting her hair highlights, doing all of the research required to be an expert on all subjects, worldwide, including what is or is not torture or ----- oh, that's right, she has two young children with a third on the way. See, when you write a book, you're supposed to think and write, not just go on google and read up on medical conditions and claim yourself an expert.
They both may have done the same research - only Elizabeth allegedly did not WRITE the book.

[seattle music]

Can't we banish Hasselbeck and Perez Hilton to Neptune or something?

Please?

[sockman]

Why do you hate Neptune?

[chitown8]

I bet she did.

http://www.comcast.net/video/elisabeth-hasselbeck-defends-diet-book/1162922838/Comcast/1162341105/

She should have not said a word.

[VOTER]

I agree.

[EngPhD]

LOL!! Thanks for the video link. I did not see it because I stopped watching "The View" quite some time ago. Ummm, I definitely think she is lying. Did you see how much she blinked and how her eyes shifted to the side and down as she made her statement? Hmmmm...very suspect.

[smartalek]

Please.
I have never watched The View, nor Survivor, nor anything else Ms Hasselbeck might have been affiliated with, so I've got no clue whether she's lying thru her teeth, totally sincere, or anything in between.
But I do know that "blink"ing a lot, and "eyes shifted to the side and down," are not sufficient evidence of deceit. My eyes do all that and more when I'm talking to more than just 1-2 friends, or any number of strangers at all. In my case, they're just signs of an abnormally high degree of shyness. I almost never lie, about anything.
Here, let's try a simple test -- tell me, is the following a lie, or am I telling the truth:

"This sentence is a lie."