TVSquad

Believe it or not, I'm a little bit surprised by this news: According to The Smoking Gun (via AOL), Missy Chase Lapine has sued Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld over the flap concerning the similarities between her cookbook, The Sneaky Chef, and Mrs. Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious.

Jessica is accused of plagiarizing Lapine's book. But why is Jerry included in the suit? Because Lapine has decided that in the process of defending his wife in various TV appearances, Jerry defamed her by accusing her of being a "wacko" and a stalker. In fact, the suit specifically mentions Jerry's appearance on Letterman where the w-word was uttered.

Why am I surprised by this suit? Because at the time this dispute started, Lapine was being very careful not to say that Jessica had ripped her off, despite the similarities between the two books (right down to the winking cartoon mother on each of the covers). In addition, those in the know about the publishing business opined that, even though Lapine's book was rejected by HarperCollins, who published Mrs. Seinfeld's book, the time frame between those events was too short to allow such a rip-off to happen. But, apparently Lapine and her lawyers have gotten a closer look at the book and decided that it contained more than just passing similarities.

I wonder if her case against Jerry is stronger than her case against Jessica. Many people thought Jerome was out of line with his swipes at an author who had not said a bad word about his wife to that point. Of course, I would have sued Jerry over the assault on our senses he inflicted on us during his promotion of Bee Movie, but that would have probably been dismissed outright.