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   Rosie scores one at trial

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Topic: Rosie scores one at trial (Read 135 times)

Rhune
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Rosie scores one at trial
« on: Nov 11^th, 2003, 8:54am »

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Rosie scores one at trial

Publishing firm's CEO admits it managed financials to avoid losing magazine.
November 11, 2003: 8:44 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Attorneys for Rosie O'Donnell scored a win in her trial against publisher Gruner & Jahr, with the CFO for the firm admitting that executives managed financials to avoid a clause that would allow O'Donnell to leave the venture, CNNfn reported.

In the breach of contract suit, Gruner & Jahr CFO Larry Diamond took the witness stand Monday and answered questions about a clause that would allow either party to leave the magazine venture without penalty if it lost more than $4.2 million by the end of June 2002.

O'Donnell's attorneys contend that Gruner & Jahr knew that figure was approaching, but the firm managed financials to keep her in the venture.

The lawyers focused on an e-mail Diamond wrote to upper management in Germany.

"Your management team decided that you didn't want the actual losses, if you want to use that term, to exceed $4.2 million. Correct?" Diamond was asked, according to the New York Times.

"Yes, that's correct," Diamond answered, the paper reported.

An accounting specialist brought in by the O'Donnell team for $450,000 said Gruner & Jahr managed the financials by not keeping reserve funds to pay back advertisers when circulation dropped below certain points, according to the Times.

The specialist said the company should have set aside $374,000 in reserves, and that, as well as the deferral of other expenses, allowed the venture to report a loss less than the $4.2 million threshold, the paper reported.

Those watching the trial had expected that Monday could be its last day. But when O'Donnell asked the judge if she should return Wednesday, the judge told her she should, as he "might have something interesting to say," according to the Times.

O'Donnell left the magazine "Rosie" 13 months ago, following a dispute over editorial control, and the publisher shut the publication shortly afterward.

Gruner & Jahr, a unit of German publisher Bertelsmann AG, filed a claim for $100 million against O'Donnell, alleging she acted unprofessionally and breached her contract when she pulled out of the venture in September 2002. O'Donnell countersued for $125 million, saying Gruner & Jahr took away her editorial control.

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Rhune
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Re: Rosie scores one at trial
« Reply #1 on: Nov 12^th, 2003, 8:18pm »

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No Winners in Rosie Case
(Wednesday, November 12 11:19 AM)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - After hearing two weeks of testimony in the dispute between Rosie O'Donnell and the publisher of her former magazine, the judge came to a simple conclusion on Wednesday (Nov. 12): Both parties are losers.
It took just minutes for New York state Supreme Court Justice Ira Gammerman to issue his opinion. While Gammerman's findings aren't legally binding, he declared that neither side deserves damages in the acrimonious dispute.

"It seems to me... we're just dealing with bragging rights here, who wins and who loses," Gammerman declared.

Publisher Gruner+Jahr USA sued the comedian and former talk show host for $100 million, alleging a breach of contract stemming from O'Donnell's decision to walk away from Rosie magazine in mid-September, 2002. O'Donnell promptly countersued for $125 million, saying that she had been forced out of editorial decisions at the magazine and charged publishers with doctoring financial records.
It was an ugly trial for the woman once known as the "Queen of Nice." In court, the "Exit to Eden" star was portrayed as an abusive powermonger. Perhaps the most damaging testimony came from former Rosie staffer Cindy Spengler, a cancer survivor, who alleged that O'Donnell once called her a liar and said that liars get cancer.

According to the AP, Gammerman stated that both sides lost money on the magazine and that there was no evidence that Rosie ever would have made money or that either side had caused the other financial damages. The possibility still exists that O'Donnell, a four-time Daytime Emmy winner for outstanding talk show host, may ask Gruner+Jahr USA to pay her legal bills.

"I have no vengeance toward the company," O'Donnell said. "I'm simply happy about the fact that it is finally over."

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