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American Morning

Rosie O'Donnell Verdict

Aired November 13, 2003 - 08:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After hearing the bitter accusations from both sides, a New York judge said the court cases between Rosie O'Donnell and her former publisher were more about bragging rights than actual damages. And yesterday he declared the battle a draw, meaning that neither side will get any money.
Joining us this morning to talk a little bit about the outcome is one of Rosie O'Donnell's attorneys, Lorna Schofield.

Nice to have you.

Thanks for joining us.

LORNA SCHOFIELD, ATTORNEY FOR ROSIE O'DONNELL: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: So, the judge called the lawsuit ill conceived. No damages were awarded.

Do you believe that your side won or do you believe, as the judge said, it was a draw?

SCHOFIELD: Well, I think definitely our side won. You know, he said what was ill conceived was the other side's lawsuit. He said that the plaintiffs' case was a very ill conceived lawsuit. They had sued Rosie for $100 million. At the end of the day he said she was not going to have to pay a penny, and that's a win by any measure.

O'BRIEN: But a win would also mean that you'd have $125 million in your pocket, right?

SCHOFIELD: Well, you know, that's only if you measure it in terms of dollars. I don't know how well you know Rosie, but she's not a person who cares about money in the way that most people do. And for her, this was really a matter of clearing her name, a matter of principle. She's not the one who picked this fight. She's not the one who sued. I think we're all very happy on the Rosie side.

O'BRIEN: At the end of the day, the judge still hasn't ruled about who breached the contract. We're waiting for that, right?

SCHOFIELD: That's right. We're going to be submitting papers in the middle of the month. He'll rule at some point after that. He's made it very clear, though, that Rosie's not going to have to pay any monetary damages. The door, though, is still open for very substantial legal fees, Rosie's legal fees.

O'BRIEN: Well, and as part of her legal team, you all aren't cheap. She was indicating something like $8 million. Will you be -- is what she's paying to her team of lawyers.

SCHOFIELD: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Will you be moving forward to see if G&J will pay for those legal fees? Is that the next battle in this?

SCHOFIELD: Well, as I said, the next battle is really for the judge to decide what happened here. But after he makes a decision, assuming that he finds for Rosie, and I'm very hopeful and confident he will, then the question is legal fees.

O'BRIEN: It's been said, and I believe you had said this, Rosie's name and integrity were at stake when this trial was going on. That's one of the things you said to the public. You said that she had been dragged through the mud for 16 months.

Do you believe that what was revealed about her temper, what was revealed about her relationship with some of the employees at this magazine did more damage to her reputation?

SCHOFIELD: You know, in terms of reputation, I think Gruner & Jahr had a lot more to lose here. Rosie has never hidden who she is. You know, she's not Mother Teresa. She's loud. She's feisty. She's opinionated. People love her for what she is.

You know, Gruner & Jahr, a lot more came out about them, the fact that they cooked their books, that they've deceived their advertisers, that their, you know, top corporate executives claim not to know anything about what was in black and white on e-mails and documents.

I think the real damage was on the Gruner & Jahr side. But it's...

O'BRIEN: Although, at the same -- and forgive me for interrupting...

SCHOFIELD: No.

O'BRIEN: At the same time, there was at one time in the trial where they had on the stand the woman who was a breast cancer survivor and it really seemed like a very low day for Rosie's, for your side, where it was -- and, true, I don't think anybody thought, has ever confused Rosie at all with Mother Teresa. But some people thought that was sort of a new low.

Do you think that that did a lot of damage or do you think that's not going to be an issue?

SCHOFIELD: You know, Rosie is one of the biggest advocates in this country for breast cancer cures. And she has given more money, tens of thousands of dollars, to breast cancer. And I think that comment was very much taken out of context. I think she was, she felt really betrayed by somebody who had been her friend and she was concerned about what this woman was doing to herself and her health by pursuing what was going on in her life. Unfortunately, it came out the way it did. But, you know, Rosie is somebody who cares very much about breast cancer and you know her mother died of breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: Gruner & Jahr, as you mentioned, some interesting information came up about their, let's call it creative bookkeeping.

What do you think the long range implications are for both sides now, for your client and also for Gruner & Jahr?

SCHOFIELD: Well, I think they're, on the Gruner & Jahr side, there must be a massive loss of credibility to have your own CFO admit that he wrote a memo in which he suggested cooking the books or managing the financials to cheat a 50-50 partner, that has to have some business implications for them.

I think Rosie, on the other hand, is thrilled to get on with her life. She's got a show opening tonight on Broadway, "Taboo." She's got a lot of projects in the hopper. And I think she just wants to get on with it.

O'BRIEN: And, I'm sure, relieved to get this case behind her at this point.

SCHOFIELD: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Lorna Schofield, it was nice to have you.

Thanks for coming in to talk to us this morning.

SCHOFIELD: Thank you. We're happy about the win.

O'BRIEN: We really appreciate it.

SCHOFIELD: Bye.

O'BRIEN: Well, the lawyer will always say we're happy about the win, while the judge calls it a draw. But we'll listen to that from your side.

Thanks.

SCHOFIELD: What do you expect?

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 13, 2003 - 08:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After hearing the bitter accusations from both sides, a New York judge said the court cases between Rosie O'Donnell and her former publisher were more about bragging rights than actual damages. And yesterday he declared the battle a draw, meaning that neither side will get any money.
Joining us this morning to talk a little bit about the outcome is one of Rosie O'Donnell's attorneys, Lorna Schofield.

Nice to have you.

Thanks for joining us.

LORNA SCHOFIELD, ATTORNEY FOR ROSIE O'DONNELL: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: So, the judge called the lawsuit ill conceived. No damages were awarded.

Do you believe that your side won or do you believe, as the judge said, it was a draw?

SCHOFIELD: Well, I think definitely our side won. You know, he said what was ill conceived was the other side's lawsuit. He said that the plaintiffs' case was a very ill conceived lawsuit. They had sued Rosie for $100 million. At the end of the day he said she was not going to have to pay a penny, and that's a win by any measure.

O'BRIEN: But a win would also mean that you'd have $125 million in your pocket, right?

SCHOFIELD: Well, you know, that's only if you measure it in terms of dollars. I don't know how well you know Rosie, but she's not a person who cares about money in the way that most people do. And for her, this was really a matter of clearing her name, a matter of principle. She's not the one who picked this fight. She's not the one who sued. I think we're all very happy on the Rosie side.

O'BRIEN: At the end of the day, the judge still hasn't ruled about who breached the contract. We're waiting for that, right?

SCHOFIELD: That's right. We're going to be submitting papers in the middle of the month. He'll rule at some point after that. He's made it very clear, though, that Rosie's not going to have to pay any monetary damages. The door, though, is still open for very substantial legal fees, Rosie's legal fees.

O'BRIEN: Well, and as part of her legal team, you all aren't cheap. She was indicating something like $8 million. Will you be -- is what she's paying to her team of lawyers.

SCHOFIELD: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Will you be moving forward to see if G&J will pay for those legal fees? Is that the next battle in this?

SCHOFIELD: Well, as I said, the next battle is really for the judge to decide what happened here. But after he makes a decision, assuming that he finds for Rosie, and I'm very hopeful and confident he will, then the question is legal fees.

O'BRIEN: It's been said, and I believe you had said this, Rosie's name and integrity were at stake when this trial was going on. That's one of the things you said to the public. You said that she had been dragged through the mud for 16 months.

Do you believe that what was revealed about her temper, what was revealed about her relationship with some of the employees at this magazine did more damage to her reputation?

SCHOFIELD: You know, in terms of reputation, I think Gruner & Jahr had a lot more to lose here. Rosie has never hidden who she is. You know, she's not Mother Teresa. She's loud. She's feisty. She's opinionated. People love her for what she is.

You know, Gruner & Jahr, a lot more came out about them, the fact that they cooked their books, that they've deceived their advertisers, that their, you know, top corporate executives claim not to know anything about what was in black and white on e-mails and documents.

I think the real damage was on the Gruner & Jahr side. But it's...

O'BRIEN: Although, at the same -- and forgive me for interrupting...

SCHOFIELD: No.

O'BRIEN: At the same time, there was at one time in the trial where they had on the stand the woman who was a breast cancer survivor and it really seemed like a very low day for Rosie's, for your side, where it was -- and, true, I don't think anybody thought, has ever confused Rosie at all with Mother Teresa. But some people thought that was sort of a new low.

Do you think that that did a lot of damage or do you think that's not going to be an issue?

SCHOFIELD: You know, Rosie is one of the biggest advocates in this country for breast cancer cures. And she has given more money, tens of thousands of dollars, to breast cancer. And I think that comment was very much taken out of context. I think she was, she felt really betrayed by somebody who had been her friend and she was concerned about what this woman was doing to herself and her health by pursuing what was going on in her life. Unfortunately, it came out the way it did. But, you know, Rosie is somebody who cares very much about breast cancer and you know her mother died of breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: Gruner & Jahr, as you mentioned, some interesting information came up about their, let's call it creative bookkeeping.

What do you think the long range implications are for both sides now, for your client and also for Gruner & Jahr?

SCHOFIELD: Well, I think they're, on the Gruner & Jahr side, there must be a massive loss of credibility to have your own CFO admit that he wrote a memo in which he suggested cooking the books or managing the financials to cheat a 50-50 partner, that has to have some business implications for them.

I think Rosie, on the other hand, is thrilled to get on with her life. She's got a show opening tonight on Broadway, "Taboo." She's got a lot of projects in the hopper. And I think she just wants to get on with it.

O'BRIEN: And, I'm sure, relieved to get this case behind her at this point.

SCHOFIELD: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Lorna Schofield, it was nice to have you.

Thanks for coming in to talk to us this morning.

SCHOFIELD: Thank you. We're happy about the win.

O'BRIEN: We really appreciate it.

SCHOFIELD: Bye.

O'BRIEN: Well, the lawyer will always say we're happy about the win, while the judge calls it a draw. But we'll listen to that from your side.

Thanks.

SCHOFIELD: What do you expect?

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com