Suit Against Seinfeld's Wife Tossed, But Jerry's Still on Trial

Yesterday a federal judge threw out a cookbook author's plagiarism lawsuit against Jessica Seinfeld, but left open claims of defamation against Jerry. It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous! You'll recall that back in 2007, "Sneaky Chef" author Missy Chase Lapine sued Jessica Seinfeld because her hit book "Deceptively Simple" contained striking similarities to Lapine's book—which was rejected twice by HarperCollins, the publisher that later bought Seinfeld's book and got her on Oprah to promote it. Then, appearing on Letterman, Jerry tore into Lapine on air, calling her a "wacko" and noting that "if you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins. Mark David Chapman. And you know, James Earl Ray. So that's my concern." So Lapine slapped the comic with a defamation lawsuit, which is still pending. Lapine's lawyer, Howard Miller, told reports yesterday that his client would appeal the copyright ruling and pursue the defamation claim: "Her young daughter came home from school and said, 'Mom, what is an assassin?' That's not helpful. That can't just be excused as a joke." But maybe that's just how funny-boy Seinfeld gets his kicks—him and his good-time buddies.