Author Amy Griffin is taking legal action against a former classmate who accused Griffin of portraying their story of sexual abuse as her own in her memoir, "The Tell."
The bestselling author is now denying that she "stole the rape of another woman and built a bestseller on it," following accusations that rocked the book world with claims the Oprah-beloved writer is "a fraud and a thief." Griffin filed a federal defamation lawsuit in Nevada on Monday, June 15, saying her middle school classmate Joleene Altum made false allegations against Griffin, according to documents obtained obtained by USA TODAY.
One year after "The Tell" hit shelves, Altum sued Griffin in a California court in March, alleging the author "unlawfully" used her "identity, likeness and private information" for the book, in which Griffin shared her experience uncovering memories of alleged childhood abuse. Altum also took her allegations to the public in a New York Times investigation published in September.
Griffin has countersued Altum and filed an Anti-SLAPP motion in California to have Altum's lawsuit dismissed. Griffin says in her June 15 complaint that "every element of Ms. Altum's account is false."
In "The Tell," Griffin details how MDMA-assisted therapy helped surface previously buried memories of years of alleged sexual abuse she endured at the hands of a middle and high school teacher in Amarillo, Texas. She said she had no recollection of the abuse before using psychedelics.
When the memoir...
BY MAIRE O’NEILL [email protected] A second amended complaint has been filed against N3B Los Alamos, HII Nuclear And BWXT Technical Services Group alleging False Claims Act Retaliation, ...