FishbowlNY broke the news yesterday that the Brown family is seeking a "retraction and/or correction" from New York magazine for some of the content in its feature story about the firing of Judith Regan. UPDATE: See below for the response from the magazine, also found on FishbowlNY. Here's the key text of the letter sent to the magazine's owner:
...Your magazine today published an article that contained blatant and intentional factual misrepresentations regarding the participation of the Brown family in the attempts by
HarperCollins to entice them with the payout of profits from the "If! Did It" book and interview.
Specifically, your writer, Vanessa Grigoriadis, contacted me for comment about these items last Friday when I was unavailable in Court. Upon return, I called her back and specifically advised her that her information was untrue and that I could substantiate the same. Having not heard from her over the weekend, I called again today, and, again, received no response. You went to print without making the correction or even including a denial.
Your defamatory article states that NewsCorp representatives flew to Indianapolis and "sat down with the families" to "hash out the details" of a payout. That is patently untrue. Neither the Browns nor any representatives for the family went to or participated in any such meeting. They did not fly to Indianapolis, they did not "sit down" with HarperCollins, they did not "hash out" any details. A modicum of research would have revealed that Indianapolis is the home town of the attorney for Fred Goldman, and has nothing to do with the Brown family.
The article further states that "the Browns had been agreeable to the payout of about $5 million, but Nicole's sister, Denise Brown went on the Today show and told them she had rejected NewsCorp's proposed 'hush money' out of hand." The Browns did not agree to any "payout".
In fact, when the Browns were approached about a payout, they contacted me and made it clear that under no circumstances would they participate in the acceptance of money for this abhorrent project. With clear marching orders from my clients, and in less than an hour of this initial contact, my office prepared and sent out a press release on behalf of the Browns categorically rejecting any payout, any sharing of profits, and anything short of a cancellation of the interview and the destruction of the book. That press release and its timing is obviously a matter of record, as is the fact that within an hour or so after that press release went out, NewsCorp cancelled the book and interview, calling into question your writer's further assertion and/or representation of how the facts played out in this situation, and what the impetus was to NewsCorp's pulling the plug on this ill-conceived project. Further, while your writer contends that NewsCorp was grappling with their sense of regret, from the moment the Browns contacted me, both myself and Denise Brown were barraged with phone calls not only insisting that we accept a payout, but do so within a time limit, as NewsCorp wanted a press release noting the family's acceptance and acquiescence to their project moving forward.
Your writer knew at press time that information was available to counter her "source", and blindly and intentionally chose not to pursue it. The misrepresentations made by your magazine are factually incorrect and editorially irresponsible.
Therefore, a demand is hereby made for an immediate retraction and/or correction of the above said statements in a publication manner commensurate with the article.
And now the magazine has responded to FishbowlNY:
New York magazine's response, via spokesperson Serena Torrey:
New York's story reflects the facts as we know them. News
Corp. executives present at the meeting in Indianapolis say that one of
the lawyers there was representing the Brown family in the negotiation.
The Brown family maintains that that is not the case. A day after a
prospective settlement was hammered out and presented, the Brown family
conclusively rejected it. While Vanessa Grigoriadis called the Brown's
lawyer for comment 24 hours before final closing, we are sorry we were
not able to represent the Browns' position fully in the article.
Torrey adds that the magazine first became aware of the Browns' complaints via FishbowlNY — when we obtained and posted a faxed letter from Brown family lawyer Natasha Roit to New York — and that it never arrived at New York's offices or those of its owner, Bruce Wasserstein:
Incidentally, the only place we've seen this letter is on
your site today. It never arrived in any offices associated with New
York magazine or Bruce Wasserstein.