missy-chase-lapine

BusinessWeek's New Bidder; John Stossel Joins FNC

cityfile · 09/10/09 02:10PM

• It looks like there's a new frontrunner to take over BusinessWeek. Mayor Bloomberg's media company, Bloomberg LP, has bypassed Bruce Wasserstein as the leading contender to take over the McGraw-Hill-owned mag. [NYP]
• After close to three decades at ABC News, John Stossel is leaving the network to join Fox News and Fox Business Channel. [FNC, TVN]
• Not all magazines are closing down or trimming operations. Cesar Millan and IMG have launched a title for dog owners called Cesar's Way. [WSJ]
• There's been an editorial shakeup at O, The Oprah Magazine. [NYP, WWD]
• Will this season be the last for Oprah Winfrey's daytime talk show? [NYDN]
Graydon Carter appears to have been granted a pass. The Vanity Fair editor reports he hasn't been forced to sit down with the flock of cost-cutting McKinsey consultants now prowling the halls of Condé Nast. [NYO]
• A judge has tossed out a lawsuit by Missy Chase Lapine, the author who claims Jessica Seinfeld ripped off her cookbook last year. [AP]
• According to the Wall Street Journal, "Bonnet books," or Amish love stories, are "a booming new subcategory of the romance genre." Who knew? [WSJ]

Sneaky Chef Scores

cityfile · 12/12/08 07:37AM

We hope Jessica Seinfeld has some free time set aside in 2009. Missy Chase Lapine, the writer who sued the wife of the famous comedian earlier this year for copying her cookbook, Sneaky Chef, has a new title in the works. (Lapine also filed suit against Jerry for calling her a "wacko" on TV, as you may recall.) Lapine's agent, Joëlle Delbourgo, says her client sold a new book to Running Press, the same publisher responsible for her bestselling Sneaky Chef. It looks like Lapine has picked up a lesson or two, too: "Ms. Delbourgo declined to discuss the details of Ms. Lapine's new book." [NYT]

Jerry Seinfeld 'Devastates' Wife's Rival By Calling Her An Assassin

Richard Lawson · 10/31/08 10:57AM

Poor Missy Chase Lapine. The beleaguered cookbook authoress wrote a tome called The Sneaky Chef, about how to deceive children, that was later plagiarized (maybe!) by Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica in a book called Deceptively Delicious, which was also about lying to little ones. Lapine was brave/stupid enough to publicly accuse Seinfeld of plagiarism, which awoke the sleeping giant Jerry. He went on talk shows and said things like: "If you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins. Mark David Chapman and, you know, James Earl Ray. So, that's my concern." Lapine says this was "devastating" and is now suing Seinfeld for slander: "I have never felt so frightened and vulnerable as the day my daughter, 7 years old, came home from school and asked, 'Mom, what is an assassin?," Lapine told the court. She also said that she maybe "made a big mistake talking to any reporters because now this billionaire is angry and attacking me everywhere." Which is probably true! You do not want to get billionaires angry. Hell, you don't want to get millionaires angry. They'll just mess with your life as long as they want because they have more money than you and you'll always have to stop first. So, whether or not Lapine was plagiarized doesn't really even matter anymore. The Seinfelds already won, as they always will. Oh, and the saddest part of the whole thing? She'll never be on Oprah. "Four times I attempted to be a guest on Oprah. I was rejected each time." Devastating indeed. Image via New York Times

Angelina's Mood Swings, Ivanka's Conversion Plans

cityfile · 10/29/08 06:02AM

♦ Angelina Jolie is either "burning up with jealousy" over Brad Pitt's flirtatious relationship with co-star Diane Kruger, or she's completely happy and getting ready for her next adoption in the next few weeks, depending on which tabloid you pick up. [Star, OK!]
Elisabeth Hasselbeck gets more death threats than any other host on the View, news that probably won't surprise you. [P6]
♦ Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer spent last weekend at a romantic spa in Arizona. [Star]
♦ Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen appeared at a book signing yesterday, but they did not permit fans to talk to them. [P6]
♦ Page Six follows up on the news from three weeks ago and reports Ivanka Trump is converting to Judaism for Jared Kushner. She's attending synagogue regularly, too. [P6]

Jessica Seinfeld's Plagiarism Saga Rolls On

cityfile · 07/14/08 07:55AM

Undeterred by Jerry Seinfeld identifying her as a potential assassin because of her three names, cookbook author Missy Chase Lapine is expanding her defamation lawsuit against the Seinfelds to also include Jessica Seinfeld's publisher HarperCollins. Both Lapine's book, The Sneaky Chef, and the book she accuses of ripping it off, Deceptively Delicious, became bestsellers, but—surprise!—the author with the famous husband who also landed a coveted appearance on Oprah has sold many more copies of her book.