Jerry Seinfeld was acquitted of slander against cookbook author, Missy Chase Lapine, by a New York judge on Friday. The judge, Marcy Friedman, also dismissed plagiarism charges against Seinfeld and his wife.
Lapine had accused Seinfeld of slander after Seinfeld called her plagiarism case against Seinfeld’s wife “vegetable plagiarism,” along with other comments mocking Lapine, on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2007.
Judge Friedman ruled those comments as “statements of opinion,” according to Bloomberg. Friedman also said that “as the context and content demonstrate, they are not defamatory as a matter of law,” CNN reported.
In 2007, Lapine had originally accused Seinfeld’s wife, Jessica, of plagiarizing her cookbook The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals after Seinfeld’s wife had published a similarly titled book Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets To Get Your Kids Eating Good Food a few months later.
A federal court had cleared Seinfeld of these charges and the same verdict was reached when Lapine appealed the case, according to Bloomberg. Judge Friedman also dismissed the plagiarism charges as “a creative variation on preexisting ideas” of “hiding healthy ingredients in foods.”
Seinfeld’s lawyers called it “a complete victory for Jerry, and also a victory for the First Amendment and the right of comedians to tell jokes,” while also stating that this decision confirms that “Jessica independently created her bestselling book Deceptively Delicious.”
Lapine had accused Seinfeld of slander after Seinfeld called her plagiarism case against Seinfeld’s wife “vegetable plagiarism,” along with other comments mocking Lapine, on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2007.
Judge Friedman ruled those comments as “statements of opinion,” according to Bloomberg. Friedman also said that “as the context and content demonstrate, they are not defamatory as a matter of law,” CNN reported.
In 2007, Lapine had originally accused Seinfeld’s wife, Jessica, of plagiarizing her cookbook The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals after Seinfeld’s wife had published a similarly titled book Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets To Get Your Kids Eating Good Food a few months later.
A federal court had cleared Seinfeld of these charges and the same verdict was reached when Lapine appealed the case, according to Bloomberg. Judge Friedman also dismissed the plagiarism charges as “a creative variation on preexisting ideas” of “hiding healthy ingredients in foods.”
Seinfeld’s lawyers called it “a complete victory for Jerry, and also a victory for the First Amendment and the right of comedians to tell jokes,” while also stating that this decision confirms that “Jessica independently created her bestselling book Deceptively Delicious.”
