Rosie rolling in lawsuit
Former mag partner files lawsuit
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Citing reasons including "unilateral and wholly unjustified abandonment of the Magazine" and "numerous public statements and profanity-laced diatribes," the Bertelsmann AG company filed its complaint in the New York Supreme Court Tuesday.
In turn, an O'Donnell spokeswoman has threatened to countersue.
O'Donnell is represented by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, while the office of David Boies reps G + J.
In 2000, the two sides signed a 50/50 deal to resurrect McCall's Magazine under the "Rosie" rubric. The mag bowed in April 2001.
When O'Donnell backed away from her syndie television program and outed herself in her memoir "Find Me" last spring, the relationship soured.
After a very public summer spat, O'Donnell unilaterally pulled out of the mag Sept. 18.
Out the gate, "Rosie" showed exceptional promise with unusually strong ad revenue growth in a moribund environment, but recently has seen precipitous drops in interest on the newsstand. Ad growth, however, remains strong.
The magazine will close in December.
