mynxcat
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response 52 of 63:
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Nov 10 21:14 UTC 2003 |
Apart from being callous and mean, Rosie's comment was more childish
than anything else. It's the kind of thing you hear kids say to each
other on the playground. Instead of the callousness of the comment,
the fact that a business woman would say something so stupidly petty
is what shocked me more than anything else. If this story is true,
Rosie has lost a lot of my respect, and it has nothing to do with
being mean-spirited
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richard
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response 54 of 63:
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Nov 11 19:43 UTC 2003 |
The trial isn't about whether Rosie is mean or callous or anything. It is
about whether the company that published her magazine was deceiving her.
And it sounds like they were. From today's wire reports:
"Rosie scores one at trial
Publishing firm's CFO admits it managed financials to avoid losing
magazine.
November 11, 2003: 10:13 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Attorneys for Rosie O'Donnell got the CFO of Gruner
& Jahr to admit that the former publisher of Rosie magazine managed
financial statements to avoid losses that would have allowed O'Donnell to
leave the venture, CNNfn reported.
Gruner & Jahr Chief Financial Officer Larry Diamond took the witness stand
Monday in the breach-of-contract trial and answered questions about a
clause that would have allowed either party to quit the magazine venture
without penalty if it lost more than $4.2 million by the end of June 2002.
O'Donnell's attorneys contended that Gruner & Jahr knew that a loss of
that size was looming, but that the publisher played with the numbers to
keep O'Donnell at the magazine.
The lawyers focused on an e-mail Diamond wrote to his bosses saying the
"management team of G&J USA is recommending to you we manage the
financials such that we do not fall below the required threshold point so
that we can continue to publish 'Rosie'. We are asking for your approval
to this strategy."
"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 setting aside money to
pay back advertisers when circulation fell, according to the Times.
The specialist said the company should have set aside $374,000 and that,
as well as the deferral of other expenses, allowed the venture to report a
loss less than $4.2 million, the paper reported.
Those watching the trial had expected that Monday would 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 Rosie magazine 13 months ago, following a dispute over
editorial control, and the publisher shut the publication shortly
afterward.
Gruner & Jahr, owned by the German publisher Bertelsmann AG, sued
O'Donnell for $100 million, 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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