Publishers turn down chance to settle in Rosie lawsuit

Publishing company Gruner + Jahr turned down a settlement offer from Rosie O'Donnell in the ongoing lawsuit over Rosie magazine, reports FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman. After G+J head Axel Ganz's testimony, which many saw as being deleterious to the company, O'Donnell made an offer that would have had G+J pay her legal fees (of about $4 million) as well as an additional $6 million (the amount O'Donnell says she sunk into the magazine) to a charity chosen by both parties. "[T]his is a fair offer, made out of respect for you," wrote O'Donnell in an E-mail to Ganz on May 28. "If you would rather fight, I have the better case.... This is not a negotiation.... This offer expires on Tuesday [June 2]. You will not see another one." The conflict between O'Donnell and G+J began when O'Donnell objected to a new editor in chief who brought a differing vision to Rosie magazine. When the talk-show host shut down the magazine, the publisher sued her, leading to a countersuit by O'Donnell. The case will continue to proceed toward trial.