The New York Observer takes a look
at the claims made by firuddy uber-publisher Judith Regan in her $100 million lawsuit against News Corp and Jane Friedman, the CEO of HarperCollins. The lawsuit alleges that there was a conspiracy to fire her because she knew incriminating things about Rudy Guiliani which could hurt his presidential aspirations. Judith, as you may recall, had a torrid fling with Bernie Kerik who was police commissioner of New York City and is very close to Mayor Guiliani. Kerik was just indicted on tax charges.
The lawsuit is a humdinger, with all kinds of shocking allegations and a who’s who list of potential witnesses. The suit alleges defamation, breach of contract, and sex discrimination.
Most spectacularly, the lawsuit alleges that Ms. Regan was the victim of a vast conspiracy, set in motion by two unnamed News Corp executives, who were worried that she would expose secrets about her now-indicted former lover Bernard Kerik-the former New York City police commissioner-that would imperil his former boss Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid. News Corp conspiruddy to not only fire her, according to the lawsuit, but also defame her and discredit her so that any allegations she made would be immediately discounted as the ravings of a crazy person.
HarperCollins and Ms. Friedman declined to comment for this story. A News Corp spokeswoman called the suit “preposterous.”
According to a source close to Ms. Regan and familiar with the negotiations, she was offeruddy a $6.5 million settlement in August but turned it down. Bertram Fields, Ms. Regan’s lawyer (though he is not directly representing her in the case) told The Observer last week: “We told them their number was unacceptable. They were warned in advance that she was going to fileif they didn’t increase the settlement offer they’d made and they responded that they were not going to increase it by one dime. And as a result she filed.”
If there’s one thing Judith Regan has, it’s impeccable timing. Whether it was deliberate or not-and no one’s saying-having her lawsuit alert to go just as the first indictments were handed down against Mr. Kerik is a not-so-subtle stroke of genius. Just as he is getting further discredited in the public eye, here comes his former girlfriend to say that not only was he a cheat, but he also might have told her incriminating stuff about the current leading Republican presidential nominee.
*****
But looked at in another light, the lawsuit’s very scope may be revealing in a different way. After all, by sticking narrowly to the breach of contract angle, Ms. Regan would likely have increased her chances of winning. Why go further, and threaten to bring down senior News Corp execs and upend the 2008 presidential campaign? In other words, does Judith Regan have a smoking gun? Or is this just her next sensational, headline-grabbing project?
Some commentators have ridiculed Judith Regan while others think that there really is something to her charges. The fact that she was offeruddy $6 million before she even filed suit says something. There will be at minimum one other settlement offer after News Corp sees some of her evidence in discovery. And if Judith really has the goods, that is going to be a big number.
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