After Court Win, Lawyer Calls Suit Against Seinfeld’s Wife a Publicity Stunt
A federal judge has ruled that a cookbook written by Jerry Seinfeld’s wife didn’t copy another author’s book.
Both cookbooks encouraged healthy eating by sneaking vegetables into children’s recipes. Plaintiff Missy Chase Lapine had claimed the cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld employs “brazen plagiarism.”
U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain disagreed, ruling the only similarity between the two cookbooks was that both of them hid healthy foods in recipes, according to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Swain also dismissed a related defamation claim against Jerry Seinfeld, saying it should be tried in state court.
The defamation claim concerned remarks by Jerry Seinfeld during an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman in which he joked about a “three-name woman.”
“If you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins,” Seinfeld said. He pointed to James Earl Ray and Mark David Chapman.
The lawyer for the Seinfelds, Orin Snyder of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said Lapine’s suit was “a publicity stunt,” according to the Times.
