Judith Regan

Judith Regan (born August 17, 1953 in Massachusetts) is an American editor, producer, book publisher and television and radio talk show host. She is the mother of a son and a daughter and lives in New York City and Los Angeles.

Judith Regan
Born	Judith Regan 17 August 1953 (1953-08-17) Massachusetts
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Publisher
Children	2 children

Early life

She was born on August 17, 1953. Regan grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and Bay Shore, Long Island and later graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1971. She attended Vassar College, receiving her degree in English and Art History in 1975. She went on to study Art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and voice with a Juilliard School of Music instructor. In 1977, she was recruited by The National Enquirer while working at Harvard University's Institute of Politics.

Television and publishing career

In the early 1980s, Regan wrote for and edited a number of publications and produced for a number of television shows. In the mid-1980s, she signed a major six-figure deal with Simon & Schuster for a two-book deal, including a study of the history of the American family. She later canceled the contract to stay home with her young son, who had suffered a devastating head injury after being hit by a drunken driver. Simon & Schuster then offered her a job as an editor and she agreed if she could work from home while caring for her son.

Publishing Success

While at Simon & Schuster, Regan discovered and edited authors such as Wally Lamb, Walter Kirn, and Douglas Coupland as novelists in addition to working with a wide range of authors from Howard Stern to Rush Limbaugh. New York Magazine wrote,"Judith is, hands down, the most successful editor in the book business; not only has she sold millions of pallets of books, but she's put a decided spin on the culture, too (she almost single-handedly moved Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern off of the radio and out into the mass market, but she isn't just Rush and Howard; her oeuvre includes O.J. prosecutor Christopher Darden, Gen-Xer Douglas Coupland, Oprah novelist Wally Lamb, and diet-category-killer The Zone). She is said to be responsible for a king's ransom of the HarperCollins bottom line." Judith also had her own imprint, ReganBooks, at Rupert Murdoch's HarperCollins.

Fox News Television Talk Show Host

From 1994 to 2004, Regan hosted a number of talk shows, including her own Judith Regan Tonight, a weekend talk show on the Fox News Channel.

Regan Books

Regan's first acquisition was an unknown first-time novelist named Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The book went on to sell over 10 million copies.

Additional books she created, art directed, marketed, edited and produced include Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and Son of a Witch, also by Gregory Maguire; Stupid White Men by Michael Moore; Private Parts and Miss America by Howard Stern; The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss; and Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee, Shabby Chic by Rachel Ashweell, and The Paris Apartment by Claudia Strasser,

Publishing troubles

O.J. Simpson book

In 2006, Fox announced that Regan had interviewed Simpson for over 4 hours and had achieved what the prosecutors and law enforcement had failed to do: she got O.J. Simpson to confess on camera and on paper. The confession would air on the Fox network and Regan would publish O.J. Simpson's book, If I Did It.

After harsh criticism, News Corporation announced that it was canceling its publication and an interview with Simpson that was to air on the Fox Network.

The Mickey Mantle Novel

On December 14, 2006, the New York Daily News reported that ReganBooks would publish a "fictional biography" of New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle titled 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel written by sportswriter Peter Golenbock, who had previously written The Bronx Zoo with Yankee relief pitcher Sparky Lyle. The book was controversial because it describes Mantle having an affair with Marilyn Monroe while she was dating Joe DiMaggio.^{[citation needed]} Syracuse University journalism professor and pop culture expert, Bob Thompson, claimed what Golenbock wrote "has a long literary tradition."

Dismissal from HarperCollins

On December 15, 2006, Regan was fired from HarperCollins, over alleged "anti-Semitic" comments. Regan sued News Corporation and News Corporation retracted the claim, apologized to Regan, and paid her an eight-figure settlement." This charge was completely fabricated" according to Regan's lawsuit. News Corporation then retracted the claim.

"After carefully considering the matter, we accept Ms. Regan's position that she did not say anything that was anti-Semitic in nature, and further believe that Ms. Regan is not anti-Semitic," News Corp. said. (AP Hillel Italie January 25 2007) It was reported that she had tapes that confirmed her position. The tapes of the conversation with a HarperCollins lawyer Mark Jackson have not been released. The staff at ReganBooks were reassigned within the HarperCollins General Book Group. The New York Times reported that "a stunned Ms. Regan was confronted by security guards who arrived with boxes and ordered her to leave." A temporary assistant who worked for less than one week also heard the conversation and claimed that Regan never made any anti-Semitic statement.

Lawsuit

In November 2007, Regan filed a $100 million lawsuit against News Corporation protesting her dismissal. Her allegations include that she was ordered to lie to federal investigators to protect Rudy Giuliani's bid for president, as his promotions of Bernard Kerik were likely to become a burden on the presumed future campaign. According to The New York Times, "The assertion that the News Corporation has sought to protect Mr. Giuliani appears in the opening page of the filing. The document later revisits aspects of the assertion."

In January 2008, the defamation lawsuit was settled on terms described as confidential and equitable. It was reported the News Corporation paid Regan a sum between 10 and 30 million dollars. In a joint statement, News Corp conceded that Regan had not uttered anti-Semitic statements and that Regan was not anti-Semitic.

In February 2011, another lawsuit revealed that Roger Ailes, head of Fox News, was the News Corporation person who told her to lie to federal prosecutors.

In popular culture

The middle segment in a 2006 episode of The Daily Show has correspondent John Oliver "covering" an Iranian convention regarded by many people as a Holocaust-denying convention. Oliver explains that some former Nazis in attendance have "written" a book called If We Did It, before asking "Oh, Judith Regan. Is there anything you WON'T publish?"

A 2007, season 17 episode of Law & Order titled "Murder Book" (episode 387–1716) features a character (Serena Darby) who is based loosely on Regan.

In a 2005, season 4 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent called "My Good Name", the media adviser to a Bernie Kerik-like character takes a phone call from a woman named "Judith" -- modeled after Regan.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, she was parodied in a sketch on season 12 episode #1207 of the television show, MADtv. In the sketch, two actors appear, one playing her and another playing O.J. Simpson.

In 2010, Regan appears as a client on season 4 of Bravo TV's reality show, Millionaire Matchmaker.

Radio show

Regan hosts a general interest talk radio show on Sirius and XM Satellite Radio.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Judith Regan on Charlie Rose
• Judith Regan at the Internet Movie Database
• Judith Regan collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• What Do Rush, Howard, Beavis and Butt-Head Have in Common? Among Other Things, the Brashest Editor in America, People magazine, February 14, 1994