Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy - Jezebel Comments

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

MissFiFi — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:24:48 EST

I would sue him for defamation the rat bastard. And let us recall the humor of how Jessica became Mrs Seinfeld

[honeymoons.about.com]

MissFiFi

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

missny — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:34:32 EDT

I live in the smame building as this Seinfeld person and she one of the most disliked, unlikable human beings I have ever met. Aside from being a social climber and user, she on several occasions tried to get doormen fired and was notoriously mean to our local firemen immediately after 9-11. She is a nastly woman and some karma may finally be coming back to her. For $10,000 a month, she hires Howard Rubenstein to make magazines say she's pretty. She might be okay looking if she didn't have a permanent scowl on her face, but pretty - never.

missny

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

j-yo — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:39:54 EDT

Please why own't anyone let this story die and allow Jessica Seinfeld to go back to her job as a social ladder-climbing spouse? Besides, it's just stupid to hide veggies in your kids' food, and I say that as a homemaker with two picky eaters. What happens when your kids grow up thinking brownies are healthy because mum used to hide spinich in it?

j-yo

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Owlygirl — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 02:12:59 EDT

I haven't read through all the posts yet, so sorry if I'm repeating. I do want to say that this is yet another example of the shoddy work being done by Oprah producers (anybody read what happened behind the scenes before the Frey mess?). I mean the woman must employ dozens of producers - are none of them doing their jobs? Or are they simply trying too hard to please The Oprah?

Whatever the case, clearly the Harpo-ettes were fixated on doing something extra special for Jerry. Thus Jessica gets a precious whole hour of cloying praise with Jerry & the Bee Gang following the next week, since Oprah needed to promote this film because of her attachment.

Personally I'm all ways turned off and really feel for the Lapine.

Owlygirl

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

goodcheapfun — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:33:25 EDT

@Trixie from Toronto: You're being facetious right Trixie? Because damn I'm not too into being a douche bag media whore, but whatevs.

goodcheapfun

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

goodcheapfun — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:31:04 EDT

@ceejeemcbeegee: If you try and sell the idea as your own hell yah.

goodcheapfun

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

ceejeemcbeegee — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:49:46 EDT

@goodcheapfun: I don't know ladies: if I amp up a brownie recipe, do I have to pay royalties to the person who originally came up with brownies?

ceejeemcbeegee

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Trixie from Toronto — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:09:35 EDT

@iaintgoingthere: That's right. We're ALL JUST JEALOUS.

Trixie from Toronto

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

goodcheapfun — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:35:30 EDT

site = cite (damn)

goodcheapfun

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

goodcheapfun — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:34:22 EDT

@warmaiden: THANK YOU. I'm doing research now and if you even use someone's idea than you better site it or your up shit's creek. Cookbooks have less stringent guidelines but I am sure they exist. You just can't take other people's shit, claim it as your own unique idea and sell it. That just stinks and I hope Ms. Lapine can sue.

goodcheapfun

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

freetobemememe — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:17:43 EDT

Big surprise. I am not a mother and I know that this method of cooking for children is a stupid idea. The key to get children to eat well is to *gasp* take the time to teach them to eat well - from birth. I know it is not easy, but there are plenty of good cookbooks out there that can help. It may take longer than switching on the Cuisinart and pouring it into the tomato sauce, but no one said it would be easy.

I agree, she is being groomed for something, and why care about the little guy if there is no real need?

freetobemememe

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

helen — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:27:03 EDT

@longtimelistener: look, for all i know you're the lady in the office next to me. but if you've really worked in publishing for 20 years, you'll know the odds of an editor getting a proposal, ripping off the premise, and turning it around to a celebrity client are about as slim as meredith melling burke.

unagented, unpublished authors are always paranoid that we're going to rip off their brilliant ideas and feed them to our established authors. the reason we can mock the absurd security precautions they take in their transom proposals is that we don't do that. like venuscloacina said, that is immediate and extraordinary grounds for a lawsuit.

we behave like idiots here in publishing, but we're not that idiotic.

helen

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Trackback — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:59:33 EDT

Soooo, what happens when a celebrity-by-association puts out a book on hiding veggies in otherwise innocuous foods? Well, at first it's all Oprah love and interviews, and then...the backlash.

Trackback

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

La Mareada — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:42:46 EDT

@Leiakat: Her charity: Another poster on the last thread about Seinfeld, explained how JS copied the mission and organization plan from an existing charity that she had briefly volunteered for. The other charity (based on the founder's MSW thesis)has struggled since it can't compete against the Seinfeld PR machine.
(Note I haven't had time to check out the whole story myself.)

La Mareada

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

marsneedsrabbits — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:24:31 EDT

My horribly cynical guess is that this was going to be Mrs. Seinfeld's introduction to the public, with an eye toward eventually becoming the "Martha Stewart" of the diaper set. Following the book, appearances on TV shows, articles in magazines, and an eventual daytime series about being the best darned mommy you possibly can be.

marsneedsrabbits

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Major-General — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:23:38 EDT

@CitizenMom: And a poor meatloaf recipe at that.

Major-General

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

the earl grey — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:20:22 EDT

has anyone ever spotted Jerry, Jess etc at the beach in east hampton? dont you think he might head over to main or indian wells or at least Egypt sometimes?
and Im not talking about annie liebovitz photo shoots I mean actual real EH/gansett beach time??
juss askinn'

the earl grey

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

LilyBonesBurana — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:03:10 EDT

>>WHY! WHY! WHY! are we wasting our time bickering about this stupid book. Lets face it, some of you are jealous because she an author and you are just a wannabies.

Yeah, honey. Um. Not so much.

LilyBonesBurana

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

BiscuitDoughJones — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:01:32 EDT

@iaintgoingthere: Hear that ladies? We're just JEALOUS of Seinfeld. Hahahahahaaaaaaa!!!
Um, hey buddy, you mind taking your sorry ass back to the Perez Hilton comment threads? You're kinda not needed here.

BiscuitDoughJones

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

24-7 — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:51:23 EDT

@iaintgoingthere: Plagiarizing someone's work does not an author make.

24-7

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

24-7 — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:50:48 EDT

Team Missy! I hope Lapine sues the ass off thief Sklar Nederlander Seinfeld!

24-7

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

iaintgoingthere — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:27:19 EDT

WHY! WHY! WHY! are we wasting our time bickering about this stupid book. Lets face it, some of you are jealous because she an author and you are just a wannabies.

iaintgoingthere

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

LilyBonesBurana — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:26:58 EDT

Wish this were surprising, but it certainly isn't. Any media company would pretty much throw an Average Person under a bus if it meant being able to feature a celeb with a similar project. One of the ugly truths of the media jungle.

LilyBonesBurana

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

longtimelistener — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:06:46 EDT

@helen: Really? Then I guess I've imagined the past 20 years of my publishing career and all those titling meetings I attended and contracts I read.

longtimelistener

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Steverino — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:00:16 EDT

In her defense, she did submit the Sneaky Chef book to her publisher with the proposal, but she pureed it first.

Steverino

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

peggynature — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:59:50 EDT

Further proof that Oprah will believe anything, as long as it's printed in a book.

peggynature

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

VenusCloacina — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:50:33 EDT

@longtimelistener: Seinfeld's publisher already had Lapine's book proposal. They knew about it and I'm sure they made Seinfeld's agent aware of it...

If that's the case, then Chase (or Chase Lepine--doesn't it say "Chase" on the book, though?) should sue the ass off the publishers. Ripping off someone's work for another, more high-profile, author is pretty much the Sin Against The Holy Ghost as far as publishing is concerned.

As for the "well, how could she prove it?"--there is so much turnover in the publishing industry that it would hardly be a feat to find someone who was involved who had left the company since then.

VenusCloacina

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

controlbeak — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:49:56 EDT

Like I said before:
Deceptive & Suspicious !

Seriously, if the woman was "obsessed with the idea" of this pureeing scheme for 2 years, do you think she wouldn't read a book or two about it....

...or, if she could figure it out w/out reading one, why do we need "her" book??

controlbeak

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

truthinadvertising — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:29:21 EDT

Um, Do we not remember that she's the same woman who dumped her wealthy husband on their honeymoon (Eric Nederlander as in Nederland theater, Rent producer) to stalk Jerry Seinfeld at the gym? Hmm, since hubby was hot is it that Jerry is famous? What does she care about integrity or being rich even. It's about fame, baby?

truthinadvertising

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Xylo — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:23:29 EDT

@Trixie from Toronto: Apparently, she's already done that, and moved on to rip off the charity's ideas, too: [jezebel.com]

Xylo

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

NicoleItchy — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:22:46 EDT

Wait, Oprah is BLACK?!?!?!?

NicoleItchy

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

helen — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:16:46 EDT

@longtimelistener: um. that is not actually how publishing works. but nice try.

helen

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

LadybirdRamone — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:14:36 EDT

I saw two of these books leave the shelf at Borders this weekend. It was the first book you saw when you walked in, and two harried moms with youngsters in tow walked in, picked it up, and went straight to the cashier.

I assume they're desperate, stupid, or both.

LadybirdRamone

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

lfw1031 — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:12:21 EDT

@longtimelistener: I don't think most are debating that. Whatever gets you to eat veggies is fine. The fact that an eerily similar book subject with eerily similar recipes was already published but not well received is the issue.

What did she know and when did she know it?!

Also, I hope this puts a chink in the All-Powerful-Oprah armor! I mean, I personally cannot stand her holier and smarter than thou act. There is no denying that she has done good things for charity and for reading. But puh-leeze! Enough already.

lfw1031

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

spielarama — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:06:18 EDT

@PaisleyPajamas: If you have caught any episode of Oprah this year that is not about death or anguish put on normal people, all it is an hour long infomercial for her celebrity friends.

Its nauseating to me that people are still falling for the Oprah schtick like she isn't truly making that $250 million a year by selling anything her friends make. Oprah has a lot of firends and they have a lot of shit to sell and she will forever help them because it frees her staff from having to come up with an interesting and well thought out topic for the American audience. Oprah gave up on that a long time ago and is really into the martyr/I am smarter then Jesus thing she has going for her the past few years.

spielarama

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

rod — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:05:12 EDT

@Amy Alkon: I read your comment and was all like, "Who is this?" Then I clicked your link and found out that you're in LA. Enough said.

rod

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Trackback — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:03:46 EDT

Remember The Sneaky Chef? Missy Chase Lapine, "The Sneaky Chef" author I lambasted for getting Daniel Boulud to connect ideas like "spinach" and "brownies"?

Trackback

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

DrGirlfriend — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:03:38 EDT

So does this mean we can stop listening to Oprah when it comes to books?

DrGirlfriend

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

longtimelistener — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:51:15 EDT

@VenusCloacina:
Seinfeld's publisher already had Lapine's book proposal. They knew about it and I'm sure they made Seinfeld's agent aware of it...and then made sure they had that clause about the author being responsible for originality of material in the publishing contract. Thus, the publisher is free to make money and leave any such lawsuits on the author's doormat.

longtimelistener

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

longtimelistener — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:46:41 EDT

I don't have kids and I bought The Sneaky Chef. Why? Because I'm a foodie and a health nut. I like to cook, eat yummy things, and get my veggies. There is a good reason for this kind of book and cooking method.

longtimelistener

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

VenusCloacina — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:37:57 EDT

And if there is a competing title that sounds a lot like yours? At the very least, you take look at it.

How could she have taken a look at it? Chase's book came out in April 2007; Seinfeld's book came out in July 2007. Seinfeld's book would have already been at the printers' by the time Chase's book was shipped.

VenusCloacina

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

TheFormerJuneBronson — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:20:21 EDT

@PaisleyPajamas: And that the last season of Seinfeld and the complete series packages are due out next month, too. Getting it while the getting's good; you're absolutely right.

TheFormerJuneBronson

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

PaisleyPajamas — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:18:24 EDT

It hasn't been said enough that it is NOT a coincidence that A) Jerry's probably sucktastic Bee Movie is about to open; B) the wifey's book is released; C) Oprah's in the Bee Movie; and D) there's so much looooove on the set of Oprah's show.

And we, the gullible public, are supposed to fawn over these folks whose only accomplishment lately is being so rich that nobody questions what they do, make their excuses for them and buy the schlop they put in the marketplace. I used to worship Oprah, but she's gone to the other side now--no longer a journalist and just an opportunistic spotlight monger with a starfuckery streak. The only good thing about the impending recession is that there is going to be a lot less disposable income in every American home to spend on crap like Jessica "Nina" Seinfeld's book.

P.S. Oprah loved Tyler Perry's recent movie as much as she loved Bee Movie. Make your own judgment on whether you want to waste your hard-earned money and 2 hours of your life on it.

PaisleyPajamas

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Johnny_boy — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:14:41 EDT

@Leiakat:
Can you imagine being Jerry Seinfeld's child? In addition to living in the shadow of his gigantic ego when you become an adult, you would never even be allowed to be cuter than he is while you are still a baby.

In his "Comedian" movie you see him bouncing his baby and singing it the Cracker Jack song...but he seems annoyed that the child is not appreciating his ironic choice of lullaby.

Johnny_boy

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

pinkbunnyslippers — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:07:46 EDT

@helen: You're right - it's unfortunate crap! If I were Oprah, I'd be abhorred either way. I almost see the James Frey debacle as less of a deal than I do with Jessica Seinfeld peddling unoriginal ideas.

pinkbunnyslippers

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

warmaiden — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:04:18 EDT

Plagiarism is plagiarism is plagiarism. If she pulled this shit in school, they'd revoke her degree 9they've done it to PhDs before, natch). As a librarian, I'm outraged. Also pissy that Oprah decides to subsidize her. Blecch.

As for James Frey - they call it creative nonfiction.

warmaiden

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Dusty in the Wind — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:03:22 EDT

Mark my words, ladies.

There will be legal action. It will be effective, if only in the form of a generous settlement in exchange for a water-tight non-disclosure, no more talking to the media agreement.

As a result, Jerry's inevitable drift towards a Woody Allen-style sorry hon' but the heart (read: cock) wants what it wants moment will be significantly accelerated if at least held off until it's clear how the kids movie racket pans out for his brand.

Dusty in the Wind

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

BiscuitDoughJones — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:01:51 EDT

@valet_of_the_dolls: Oh, shit, missed that one. I do know that Frey has a tattoo on his forearm that says: FTSITTTD- Fuck This Shit It's Time To Throw Down. Such a badass, and so classy!

BiscuitDoughJones

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

hortense — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:53:04 EDT

@hortense: World, not country, of course.

hortense

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

hortense — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:52:07 EDT

@Amy Alkon: To say that French children don't have eating issues is an incredibly broad generalization. French children, and children all over the country, have eating issues. Childhood obesity, eating disorders, and food aversions are not solely the issues of American children.

hortense

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

snot — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:51:06 EDT

Oprah's faux-real.

snot

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Trixie from Toronto — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:50:52 EDT

Execution for undue nastiness?

Trixie from Toronto

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

valet_of_the_dolls — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:47:06 EDT

@BiscuitDoughJones: The root canal reference is a joke at James Frey's expense -apparently there's some section in one of his novels where the character James Frey goes through a root canal without anesthetic. Because he's badass.

valet_of_the_dolls

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

lolly71 — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:44:54 EDT

@Amy Alkon:That was a little harsh, don't you think?

I'm also assuming you didn't catch the original thread here on Jezebel, where Ms. Seinfeld was blasted out of the water for being a lazy parent.

lolly71

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Wrath of Farrakhan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:41:07 EDT

@Trixie from Toronto: Hey, thanks! I usually don't venture over to Jezebel, but it's a slow day on Gawker.

Wrath of Farrakhan

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

helen — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:39:49 EDT

@pinkbunnyslippers: but the unfortch truth is that the millions of non-jezebel-reading Oprahbots don't actually care if this book is unoriginal crap.

Like I said in my previous comment, Oprah's credibility is harmed when she presents fiction as fact, as with James Frey. but she doesn't lose cred because a socialite came up with an unoriginal idea and then she helped shill it. sad. but true.

helen

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

plasticene — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:38:35 EDT

When little Designer Seinfeld develops severe eating issues, who will Mrs. S sue?

plasticene

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Amy Alkon — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:33:02 EDT

MOMO writes: Sentence 3: Jessica Seinfeld needs to spend more time outside. She's as pale as a ghost

Spoken like a person whose face, at 50, will be mistaken for an Hermes handbag.

For the rest of you, I recommend Anthelios #50+ pour la visage, if you can get it. Or whatever Canadian sunblocks contain Mexoryl. And hats. And an umbrella. In broad, non-rainy daylight.

French kids don't have eating issues Americans do. Why not? Because they either eat what everyone else is eating...or starve. Americans need to be less indulgent and start acting like parents.

Amy Alkon

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

pinkbunnyslippers — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:30:41 EDT

All I know is that after the James Frey incident, and now this fiasco, there's a researcher on the Oprah show who's due for a pink slip sometime soon.

Seriously, when you're the richest woman in media, you pay people to research your guests before they get on the show. Yes, Jessica Seinfeld is a complete hack, and she stole someone's idea. But what irks me the most here is that Oprah's people didn't bother to follow this up themselves. If anyone here looks stupid, it's Oprah and her show.

pinkbunnyslippers

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

DeviSama — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:29:51 EDT

@whoneedslight: Indeed!

DeviSama

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

helen — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:27:08 EDT

guys, any author accused of plagiarism is going to give one of two lines:

1, the Doris Kearns Goodwin: "Goodness, what a coincidence! I've never seen/heard of/read the book."

2, the Kaavya: "I read it years ago and loved it; passages must have subconsciously seeped into my brain."

it's for legal reasons, face-saving reasons, and goodwill-preserving reasons. no one's actually going to admit that they weren't entirely original with their content unless faced with irrefutable evidence. even then, a PR juggernaut can deflect the fallout.

James Frey, on the other hand, is a whole 'nother animal. He didn't plagiarize, he lied. Now granted, plagiarism is a form of lying, but Frey's work was entirely his own. Still despicable, but I can see where Oprah would be horribly affronted and feel misled by Frey's false memoir of suffering and redemption way more than she'd take personally an expose of J-Sein's bullshitty "I'm a mom just like you" schtick.

helen

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Malegirdle — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:25:19 EDT

sometimes i try to fool myself by freezing pureed yams and pretending their mango sorbet. it never works.

Malegirdle

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Trixie from Toronto — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:23:56 EDT

@Wrath of Farrakhan: Good one. Gold star.

Trixie from Toronto

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

mystery white girl — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:19:18 EDT

@BiscuitDoughJones:
Yeah! Guys, let's go back to talking about Ellen and that dog.

mystery white girl

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Pope John Peeps II — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:17:29 EDT

@tudobem: I tuned into Oprah for literally two minutes in the past three years, and it was last week, when she had her lesbian fisting partner Gayle on the phone, trying to play like she was pawning her off on a gay dude in the audience named "Dean". It was honestly the television equivalent of eating a huge handful of sewer fungus.

Pope John Peeps II

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Battleaxeonista — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:17:22 EDT

Oh yea, the 'I'm too rich to read' defense. I can believe that

Battleaxeonista

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Pope John Peeps II — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:16:01 EDT

@brendastarlet: That doesn't matter! If you're so ignorant and easily manipulated that you're duped into plagiarizing, you're still a plagiarist! NOT A DEFENSE!

Pope John Peeps II

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

whoneedslight — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:15:12 EDT

James Frey could've saved himself a world of hurt had he just bought Oprah some shoes.

whoneedslight

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

tudobem — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:14:09 EDT

@dotorg greg: Right? Or having Jess in the audience to RE-PUBLICIZE her book in tandem with an entire hour of Oprah kissing Jerry ass over Bee Movie (which Oprah is IN!). I am so over Oprah and her God complex.

tudobem

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

BiscuitDoughJones — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:13:02 EDT

@jasonelias: Yeah. Good people pilfer ideas. Great people straight-up plagiarize books.
What does having a root canal sans pain-relief have to do with being an Oprah-bribing hack?

BiscuitDoughJones

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

brendastarlet — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:12:29 EDT

Dotorg Greg: exactly. And no, I'm not saying she stole and idea or recipes, not deliberately. I'm leaning toward the agent and publisher saying, "Jessica, what a brilliant idea! You're so marketable! Let us handle this."

brendastarlet

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

rod — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:11:54 EDT

I'm trying to tie three sentences together, but I'm a little tired from playing pool last night.

Sentence 1: Plagiarism is beyond the pale.
Sentence 2: Celebrities (and their spouses) often employ ghost writers.
Sentence 3: Jessica Seinfeld needs to spend more time outside. She's as pale as a ghost.

Your assistance is appreciated.

rod

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

KitWisdom — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:11:03 EDT

@Sally Tomato: Yeah, they're pretty painful. Initially, I was all 'Seinfeild on 30 Rock! Could be funny' and now I just see it as the stupidest way to get those shorts on the air while masquerading them as some sort of intellectual self-reference. Do not want.

KitWisdom

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

LilaFowler — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:09:20 EDT

@depardoo: Couldn't agree more. Hasn't she learned her lesson yet? Go back to stories about depressed homemakers who bathe in Lysol. You can't fake that shit.

LilaFowler

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

TheFormerJuneBronson — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:08:50 EDT

I'm not usually in favor of litigation, but if Lapine got a settlement (in a medium of exchange other than shoes), I'd feel pretty gleeful. It's not the right thing, which would be withdrawal of the book and a public admission of guilt and apology, but it's something. The NYT, in another story, reported over the weekend that Jerry makes $60 mil a year. So the only thing Jessica can want is fame of her own. That, she can have. She's about a quarter of an inch deep if she thought this was the best way to get it. There are museums, libraries, colleges, and charities everywhere that need her philanthropy. With any luck, she's now ruined those chances too.

TheFormerJuneBronson

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

dotorg greg — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:08:38 EDT

@brendastarlet: "the Seinfeld machine," you mean like having Jerry on the call with his wife and the NY Times reporter?

dotorg greg

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Wrath of Farrakhan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:07:46 EDT

I like my fame-seeking socialites the way I like to sleep at night: without underpants.

Wrath of Farrakhan

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

skittlbrau — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:07:32 EDT

@hamburgerhotdog: And that's the absurdity of this whole thing! Shit, most New Yorkers don't cook for themselves to begin with, let alone the filthy rich ones.

skittlbrau

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

jasonelias — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:06:30 EDT

Jessica Seinfeld is good people, in fact, she's great people. Oh yeah, when Jessica was on Oprah she didn't talk about having root canal without Novocaine did she?

jasonelias

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

I Don't Get It — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:04:14 EDT

Actually, Ms. Lapine's book was pureed and spread on the pages throughout multiple Danielle Steele books. Mrs. Seinfeld actually digested the recipes while reading the pulp and had no idea she was doing so.

I Don't Get It

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Leiakat — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:03:00 EDT

@tudobem: Oprah would have done well to auction those shoes off or such.

Leiakat

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

hamburgerhotdog — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:02:43 EDT

I don't believe Jessica Seinfeld cooks. Ever.

hamburgerhotdog

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

depardoo — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:01:56 EDT

Perhaps it's time for Oprah to drop the whole book thing.

depardoo

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

BiscuitDoughJones — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:01:35 EDT

Please let this story die! Have we all had enough? Can we bury this dried up cat turd now?

BiscuitDoughJones

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Sally Tomato — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:01:22 EDT

@Leiakat: I'm with you on that. Have you caught those horrendously unfunny "Bee Movie Shorts" they're splaying all over NBC Thursday nights? They make me feel stabby.

Sally Tomato

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

samiamiamsam — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:01:10 EDT

@tudobem: I was equally horrified at how gushy Oprah was to receive the shoes. Doesn't she have enough money by now to buy every shoe ever made?

samiamiamsam

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Itsjustcatnip — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:00:27 EDT

When contacted for comment Mrs Seinfeld started laughing and said "Shit, there's spinach in those brownies?" I suggest trying every recipe with a different green, uh, vegetable.

Itsjustcatnip

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

BowlingForDollars — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:59:04 EDT

She sucks.

BowlingForDollars

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

tudobem — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:58:15 EDT

@brendastarlet: I have to agree. I doubt she did any research and most likely her agent knew Seinfeld connections would push the book to the bestseller list.

I am, however, still horrified by the whole 20 pair of shoes debacle. How did she not think to dontate that money to Oprah's school in Africa or something? Smacks of a total lack of awareness to anything.

tudobem

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Leiakat — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:55:50 EDT

@Trixie from Toronto: She actually has done charity work, she started an organization that that donates clothing to infants and toddlers.

Maybe she realized how unfunny her husband is, and will do anything to get out of that house.

Leiakat

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

hortense — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:55:23 EDT

My sister is a professional chef, and she always told me that you have to change three ingredients to make a recipe your own.

Also: this is the worst book idea ever. Promoting balanced eating by having to hide vegetables is about as healthy as buying your daughter a pair of too-tight pants for "motivational purposes".

hortense

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

BreeKilledGeorge — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:54:57 EDT

@brendastarlet: Maybe. I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt on two counts: (1) she's a real homemaker; and (2) she didn't write the book or create the recipes herself; she wrote maybe one or two recipes and passed the project off to a pro, who plagiarized.

"oft-photographed socialite"? for reals? I mean, yeah she's wealthy, but does the socialite label really fit?

BreeKilledGeorge

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

samiamiamsam — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:54:30 EDT

@samiamiamsam: I see I'm posting the same ideas at the same time as Trixie and Bridesmaid. Sorry guys--I'll try to be more original next time.

samiamiamsam

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

snizz — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:53:24 EDT

@brendastarlet: Agreed. I am willing to bet this conversation lead to somebody calling somebody calling somebody, and then a team of dickwads collected recipes from all over, and slapped her name on it, and voila! Her "really inspired" idea for a cookbook at a cocktail party lands her here.

snizz

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

samiamiamsam — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:52:44 EDT

Do the Seinfeld's need more money? More publicity? None of these books were necessary. Every parent knows you puree veggies to hide in the kid's spaghetti sauce & meatloaf. Brownies--not so much. If your kids are eating enough of the brownies to get a whole serving of vegetables, you need more help than books can offer.

samiamiamsam

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Dr.Pandora — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:51:49 EDT

@Mediahohoho: Totally agree. Shouldn't people teach their kids to like vegetables, rather than that they need to be disguised in browinies to be tolerable?

Dr.Pandora

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

sexydecoy — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:51:45 EDT

The fact is, if Jessica Seinfeld donated the profits to a charity that helps single mothers, or provides breakfast programs for kids, etc, etc, then I don't think it would be as unseemly as already disgustingly wealthy woman getting alot of publicity for something someone as done already, and only lining her own pockets even further.

sexydecoy

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Trixie from Toronto — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:50:39 EDT

What I don't get is this: did Jessica Seinfeld not have enough money? Why did she feel the need to put her name on a cookbook? Does she want fame as well as fortune? If she's bored, how about doing a ton of charity work. Sheeesssh.

Trixie from Toronto

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

CitizenMom — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:47:42 EDT

It Takes A Trophy Wife To Hide Carrots In The Meatloaf.

CitizenMom

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

AndIAmTellingYou — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:46:23 EDT

Deceptively Plagiarized...

AndIAmTellingYou

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

Mediahohoho — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:45:43 EDT

All this about a cook book that teaches you how to make you kids hate you by lying to them about why their favorite foods taste so awful.

Mediahohoho

Jessica Seinfeld's "I Never Read That Book" Defense Smells A Little Fishy

brendastarlet — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:45:10 EDT

I'm willing to believe that this book came to life out of a cocktail party conversation, that no Googling was done by Jessica herself, and that her agent was well aware of the other book but figured the Seinfeld machine would make any problems go away.

brendastarlet