Cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld, and her husband, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, are being sued by the author of another kitchen how-to, for copyright infringement and defamation. The defamation accustation actually is focused on Jerry who called Missy Chase Lapine a “wacko” during an interview in a late night talk show, after similarities emerged between his wife and the author’s cook books.
Both books focus on how to get picky kids to eat healthy meals - but Jessica Seinfeld’s book ended up becoming a best-seller lauded by influential TV personality such as Oprah Winfrey. Lapine, six months previously authored The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals. Lapine filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in New York on Monday alleging Seinfeld plagiarized Lapine’s book in writing her cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Getting your Kids Eating Good Food.
Lapine also accused Jerry Seinfeld of launching a “malicious, premeditated, and knowingly false and defamatory attack” on her character during an interview with David Letterman.
Promoting her Deceptively Delicious book on The View in November, Jessica Seinfeld defended her collection of kid-friendly recipes.
Jerry Seinfeld“I can understand why she would have been frustrated,” she said. “It must have been hard to see how quickly my book took off. I never saw her book, I never saw her recipes, nor, as a person, would I ever do something like I was accused of doing.”