Well for her to win a slander lawsuit (libel = written, slander = oral), she has to prove he made the statement with malice, and it seemed pretty freakin' malicious to me. This will be an interesting case to watch.

However, do people honestly believe she is a murderer? I'd say that's as believable as Falwell f-ing his mother (Hustler vs. Falwell). I guess we'll see what happens...

@heidiho: Well, but he did suggest she's a "wacko" and that her plagiarism claims had no merit. Suggesting someone's irrational and mentally unbalanced on national TV kinda sounds like slander to me...

I kinda think Jessica Seinfeld should sue him for slander too for suggesting that she is ever required to cook in their household.

C'mon, Jerry's ALWAYS funny. He played a bee, people. A BEE!

Jerry's next project is to do a giant monster sitcom and call it Cloverfeld. "I saw it! It's Newman!"

@Sweet Panda Love: Oh I totally think he slandered her, but will a court? I'm not sure. I have a feeling this will be $ettled before it makes it into a courtroom.

@Little Mintz Sunshine: So... do you have a blog anywhere? I like your bee-mocking style.

I hope she takes him for all he's worth. I audibly groaned when that f'ing bee showed up on my screen during the Oscars. At some point he needs to realize: we didn't watch "Seinfeld" because of him, we watched it in spite of him.

a clear dividing line between where humor ends and libel begins

First you'll have to tell me where humor begins.

He clearly meant what he said on Letterman. It wasn't funny. It was malicious. The only laughter was due to discomfort on the part of the host and the audience. It was a really shitty thing to do and the defensiveness made his wife look more guilty. Between this and all the Bee Movie TV Junior garbage, I am finished with him. He even tanked a 30 Rock appearance.

I wished so hard that the winner of the Best Animated Short (you know, the one that Bee Jerry "presented" from atop the mic) had smacked the microphone and then made the "wiping off the baby bumblebee motions." Too bad Missy Chase Lapine didn't storm the stage in Mrs. Lovett drag…"sneaky chef" indeed...

@bestdamnedtapper: Agreed. This whole ordeal is gonna bring the Seinfelds down a couple notches.

I hope he gets his a$$ handed to him. Now THAT would be funny.

Such a wretched human being he is. I wish she had a shot at winning.

@thehmsbeagle: Thanks. Tried it for like, five seconds. Which is two seconds longer than my normal attention span. Besides, I'm not able quickly click the fake Excel spread sheet that sits on my desktop fast enough as my work server is slower than Clooney's new GF.

Jessica Seinfeld is a whore, a cheater, and a plagiarist. Jerry Seinfeld is a megalomaniac asshole who dates minors and married women.
And I say that solely for comic effect. Aren't I funny?

If you were trying to be funny, Jerry, you should have hired Larry David to write your lines.

I would have been incensed to have had to sit through hearing anything about that stupid cookbook, from someone as haughty and horribly dressed as jerry seinfeld or not. Why do either of those women think putting pureed carrots in a pasta sauce is an exciting, top-secret tip?

What a lame defense. So besides being a jerk, Seinfeld is a tool. No wonder he's married to that ho.

Putting spinach or whatever the hell vegetables Mrs. Seinfeld is putting in her brownies is pretty damn wacko. The only greens that go with brownies are marijuana leaves.

@crackbabyjesus: That is what I have been saying all along.
The whole thing was preposterous before, but comparing her to psychotic murderers was just wrong.dick!

Let's say it the case does go to court: Would the burden of proof that Jerry Seinfeld was ever funny be on the defendant or the plaintiff?

I HATE that my first reaction on hearing Seinfeld's voice Sunday night was "Ewwww". Given that I spent a huge portion of the 90s choking with laughter at his show, I'm looking for somebody to blame for that.

I love that she's going after him for slander. I couldn't believe he said that and thought he could get away with it. There was something disgustingly imperious about it ... "Oh you little people, bothering us with your petty complaints! You must be insane and murderous!!"

Guilty. Next case. Who is worse, him, her or Michael Richards?

The out-of-court is going to be a nice payback - forever having thought that he was worth $6mil an episode...

What Jerry clearly failed to note was that when he makes fun of celebrities and politicians and other public figures they are fair game and not subject to the same rules as private persons, such as cookbook authors who happen to have a legitimate plagiarism claim. Saying untrue shit about private persons is not in the same ballpark, and he pretty much went over the wall. I am sure Lapine would be glad to laugh all the way to the bank -- with a few of Jerry's millions and an injunction against Jessica's publisher.

@louisev: By bringing the plagiarism claims against Mrs. Seinfeld, however, Missy made herself a "limited public figure." Same rules apply for those as well as normal public figures. I hope she gets a great settlement out of it, but I still think she's better off settling out of court.