Jerry and wife Jessica Seinfeld are being sued by Missy Chase Lapine for plagiarism and defamation.
Missy Chase Lapine, publisher of Eating Well magazine and a Culinary Arts faculty member in New York City, released a cookbook called “The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals” in 2007. Then, a few months later, Jessica Seinfeld published her cookbook titled “Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Getting Your Kids Eating Good Food.
Ms. Lapine’s book tells readers how to hide healthy foods like carrots and beans (foods that kids don’t tend to eat) in dishes that they will eat. There are over 75 simple recipes in her book that kids will get a kick out of. For instance, Missy describes how to put blueberries in hamburgers and cauliflower and zucchini into macaroni and cheese. Furthermore, Missy shares with readers of her personal guilt for hiding the foods in her kids foods and how she overcame that guilt.
Jessica Seinfeld’s book also gives readers recipes on sneaking vegetables and purees into kids meals. She includes recipes like adding cauliflower into macaroni and cheese and carrots into meatloaf. Jessica, like Missy, reveals to readers her guilt for sneaking and hiding foods and how she overcame that guilt.
This similarity is exactly why Missy Chase Lapine is suing Ms. Seinfeld. Missy Chase Lapine claims that Ms. Jessica Seinfeld has copied her book’s style and concept. In addition, Ms. Lapine says Jessica also copied her book’s artwork.
To make matters worse, Jessica’s comedian husband Jerry Seinfeld appeared on David Letterman and when asked about his wife’s situation, Jerry poked fun at Missy Chase Lapine. He teased her as being crazy, a celebrity stalker, and even a killer. He picked on her for accusing his wife of “vegetable plagiarism.” That’s not all! He also remarked that Lapine has a three word name and that “many of the three name people become assassins.”
On Jessica Seinfeld’s book’s website, she wrote a message where she is quoted as saying: “Many people, however, have posted messages to say that the concept behind Deceptively Delicious – adding pureed vegetables to otherwise ordinary food – is not original. This is absolutely 100 percent true – mothers and grandmothers have been doing it for decades. No one – not me or any other mom – can claim credit for having invented the technique. HOWEVER, the idea for my book was my own, and every recipe in the book came from my own experimentation, with my own family, in my own kitchen. And it all started with my own “eureka” moment.”
Sources:
Seinfeld, Jessica. Deceptively Delicious, Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, Deceptively Delicious.
Seinfeld, Jessica. Deceptively Delicious, A Message From the Author.
Lapine, Missy Chase. The Sneaky Chef, Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals, The Sneaky Chef.
YouTube, Jerry Seinfeld’s Interview with David Letterman.
Barnes and Noble, The Sneaky Chef, Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals.
Barnes and Noble, Deceptively Delicious, Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.
