Judy,Judy,Judy

In case you were in a coma yesterday, or more pre-occupied with the National Book Awards, here's the latest on our fearless fallen maverick, Judith Regan.

What can I possibly say that hasn't already been said by Guiliani or Jane Freidman or half the publishing bloggers on the web.

OK, here's my contribution - I couldn't make up this character, put her in a novel and get away with it. My editor would tell me she was way too over the top.

Judith Regan Sues Ex-Employer News Corp. Over Firing
Patricia Hurtado
Tue Nov 13, 9:29 PM ET



Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Judith Regan, who was fired last year from News Corp.'s HarperCollins unit, sued the companies, claiming to be the victim of a ``deliberate smear campaign'' aimed at protecting presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani.

Regan, former president of HarperCollins' ReganBooks division, seeks at least $100 million in damages in a complaint filed today in state Supreme Court in New York. Regan claims in her complaint that News Corp. tried to destroy her reputation because she has information about former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik that would be harmful to ex-New York Mayor Giuliani and his presidential campaign.

``The smear campaign was necessary to advance News Corp.'s political agenda, which has long centered on protecting Rudy Giuliani's presidential ambitions,'' Regan said in the complaint.

Regan, who published Kerik's autobiography ``The Lost Son,'' was fired from HarperCollins in December 2006 after she backed O.J. Simpson's book, ``If I Did It.'' In the book, Simpson described how he could have killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

News Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch canceled publication of the Simpson book and a Fox broadcast special starring Simpson in November 2006, saying it was an ``ill- considered project.'' Regan's suit also names HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman as a defendant.

ReganBooks Division

Regan claims in the suit that she generated more than $1 billion in book sales for News Corp. HarperCollins shut its ReganBooks unit in January.

Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for News Corp. said ``the claims are preposterous.'' He declined comment further on the complaint.

Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for Giuliani's campaign, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Kerik couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

In her complaint, Regan said she built a ``publishing and media juggernaut'' whose imprint sold ``tens of millions of books'' after she left Simon & Schuster to join News Corp. in 1994. She said News Corp. had a ``double standard,'' set her up as a scapegoat for the O.J. Simpson controversy, and fired her without cause, fabricating numerous stories that she was a ``disgraceful and unethical publisher.''

Murdoch ``personally'' approved of the Simpson book and suggested paying $1 million for the project, Regan claims in her suit. When the controversy erupted over the project, the defendants planted false stories in the press to discredit her, Regan said, including one allegation that she was fired because she made anti-Semitic comments and had claimed to be the victim of a ``Jewish cabal'' in the book industry.

``The charge was completely fabricated,'' Regan said in her complaint.

`Personal Relationship'

While not specifying what information she has about Kerik, who she claims had a ``personal relationship'' with her, Regan said that an unnamed News Corp. executive told her to withhold information and documents from investigators in their probe of the former police commissioner. Kerik was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury on tax evasion and conspiracy charges.

``It is now widely accepted that one of Giuliani's major political vulnerabilities is his association with Bernard Kerik,'' Regan said in her suit.

``A senior executive in the News Corp. organization told Regan that he believed she had information about Kerik that, if disclosed, would harm Giuliani's presidential campaign,'' according to the complaint. ``This executive advised Regan to lie to, and withhold information from, investigators concerning Kerik.''

Best Sellers

Regan published books about radio talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern, as well as a book about porn star Jenna Jameson. All were best sellers for either Simon & Schuster or ReganBooks, she said in the complaint.

Norman Mailer and Ira Levin R.I.P., Van Hallen, Rachel Ray and Walt Disney

I took a brief family vacation to Disneyworld, where I managed not to work (wait - I did meet with a client for breakfast). We jammed four days of Disney into three overnights, so we were up at dawn to fly out and in at midnight when we came back. But I love it, and I am so glad that my teen-aged son still wants to go with his middle-aged mom.

It should be no surprise to my readers that my favorite Disney ride is The Haunted Mansion, but I do love Soarin' and Mission Mars (the kinder, gentler version). My son and I also stayed for a full showing of activities at The Adventurer's Club on Pleasure Island, and that was a hoot and a highlight.

In order to take one day off (I was gone for Veteran's Day, but that should be a holiday, so it doesn't count), I was working until about 10:00 the night before. I did four contracts that week and two major submissions (meaning getting 15 copies or more of a proposal out) as well as mailing out the week's checks.

Came back to another contract to review and the changes to two of the contracts I had reviewed last week.

I am hoping to close on four books, possibly five, before the Thanksgiving break.

I went to a Women in Publishing meeting on industry blogs last night, which was great. It's amazing how many people in this industry are sharing their wealth. Made me ask myself the question, "Why Do I Blog," which I'm hoping will be answered in my next post.

But then I had tix for the Van Halen concert, which was probably the best one I've seen this calendar year (and that includes The Police, Sprinsteen and Rush, who were all pretty awesome). Said hello to Rachel Ray, who was in front of us (and much cuter and tinier in person) - a New York moment (I keep on seeing Tony Bennett walking his poodle around Central Park too).

But, as you know, Ira Levin died today, which is a loss. He was a major horror/fantasy writer who really brought my favorite genre into the social zeitgeist. Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives and The Boys from Brazil were amazing social commentaries.

When I was in high school he also wrote his social science fiction novel, This Perfect Day, which I loved, but it appears no one else did, because it didn't even make it into his obituaries.

Norman Mailer died while I was in Orlando. He was a mainstay of my literary pantheon, always there with Updike, Vidal and Roth. I kind of think of them as my literary uncles.

But I was never particularly fond of him. I read The Naked and the Dead when I was in college, and was not old enough to be impressed by how young he was when he wrote it. Then I discovered feminism (or it discovered me) and I was so appalled by his essay on giving women oral sex as the answer to all the problems between the sexes (I'm sure you can google this), I just gave up on him. The Gary Gilmore years were interesting, but let's not forget that he stabbed one of six wives and got a murderer released from prison so he could kill again. He was colorful, but just not my favorite uncle.