Food Fight Over Seinfeld Book, Oprah’s Blessing

So, Oprah is in The Bee Movie, which stars Jerry Seinfeld, whose wife “wrote” a cookbook which was the subject for her segment on Oprah’s TV show.

Jessica Seinfeld’s book, Deceptively Delicious, is ever so similar to The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lupin, who had been the publisher of Eating Well magazine. Deirdre Donahue writes in USA Today:

Lapine says she and her publicists pitched the Oprah show five times without success. She also points out she submitted her 139-page book proposal with 31 recipes and 11 purees twice to HarperCollins (Seinfeld’s publisher), once in February 2006 without an agent and again with an agent in May 2006.

“The one big fact is that they had access to my manuscript early on,” Lapine says. Seinfeld’s book was signed up in June 2006.

Seinfeld’s agent says her client is “above reproach”. And who wouldn’t believe an agent?

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