The world long ago learned that Judith Regan carried on an affair with Bernard Kerik in an apartment that was meant to be used by rescuers at Ground Zero. Lovely flat, great location. Mr. Kerik was the police commissioner, after all, and he was as entitled as anyone else to drop in for a bit of rest and relaxation with his memoir's publisher. New York City's the publishing capital of the world, after all.
Is this the sort of thing that Judith Regan regards as a smear? She is suing former employer News Corporation (owner of HarperCollins) for $100 million, claiming that the company set out to sully her reputation and then fired her without cause.
Why was she so hard done by? Because Roger Ailes is an old friend of Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Ailes runs Fox News, which is owned by News Corporation which is owned by Rupert Murdoch who everyone knows is an evil media baron who wants to run the world by controlling the output of knowledge. Ms. Regan, as the paramour of the recently indicted Bernard Kerik, had the goods on Rudy Giuliani (pillow talk, wouldn't you know), and if she ever spoke up, poor Rudy would be up the flue.
So, to sum up, Judith Regan was given the sack so that Rudy Giuliani could run for the presidency without being assaulted with past peccadilloes. Ms. Regan was smeared to keep her quiet, to prevent the campaign from running off the rails. And she'd like $100 million to cover the damages.
Her imprint, Regan Books, was making money. She caused a scandal when she tried to publish O.J. Simpson's crime tell-all, but any publicity is good when it comes to book sales. No reason at all to fire her, except for all the dirty little secrets that Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Ailes feared she held in her head.
News Corporation says there is no merit in Ms. Regan's lawsuit. But news coverage of the case will make for fascinating reading.
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