Amy Griffin Sues Woman Who Said Author Stole Her Stories Of Rape For Hit Memoir ‘the Tell’

Author and task capitalist Amy Griffin is suing nan female who accused her of stealing her stories of rape for nan bestselling memoir “The Tell.”

Griffin revenge a suit against her erstwhile classmate for defamation connected Monday, claiming that successful 2025, nan female “told The New York Times — and done it, nan world — that Amy Griffin is simply a fraud and a thief.”

According to nan lawsuit, revenge successful U.S. District Court successful Nevada, “The Tell” recounts Griffin’s ain harrowing communicative of intersexual maltreatment by a mediate schoolhouse coach successful Amarillo, Texas, but nan erstwhile classmate claims that Griffin’s bestseller was built connected stolen worldly — nan rape of nan erstwhile classmate.

The 2025 memoir garnered precocious praise from bestseller-inducing trifecta Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Jenna Bush Hager. It was an Oprah’s Book Club pick, a darling connected nan literate podcast circuit, hyped by Griffin’s longtime bestie Gwyneth Paltrow and included nan benignant of disturbing and sensational elements that would operation book clubs and group chats crossed nan country.

And operation it did.

The Nerve columnist Maureen Callahan posted a video to YouTube titled, “Here’s Why Everyone Celebrating nan New and Controversial Book ‘The Tell’ by Amy Griffin Is Wrong,” which delved into what she called nan book’s “missing pieces.” On Goodreads, reviewers were divided, pinch immoderate praising nan book arsenic “brave and necessary” and others penning that “something seems fishy.”

Oprah Winfrey, left, Mariska Hargitay and Amy Griffin look onstage astatine an arena promoting Griffin’s memoir connected March 11, 2025, successful New York City.

(Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for Amy Griffin)

In nan memoir, Griffin recounts that she was undergoing an forbidden shape of psychedelic-drug therapy utilizing MDMA — known connected nan thoroughfare arsenic ecstasy aliases molly — erstwhile she recovered buried memories of years-long intersexual maltreatment astatine nan hands of a middle-school coach that began erstwhile she was 12 and lasted for respective years.

“This is nan communicative of a secret, a concealed kept for decades, 1 I had buried truthful heavy I didn’t moreover cognize it was there,” Griffin writes successful nan memoir. “Many of america transportation secrets, things that we were told not to reveal, aliases things we simply couldn’t, for fearfulness of judgement aliases reprisal, aliases worst of all, for fearfulness that if nan group we emotion recovered retired they’d spot america differently. Sometimes we support secrets to survive, and past a infinitesimal arrives erstwhile nan usefulness of nan concealed expires. Keeping it becomes nan point that hurts america all. We person to tell. So what is nan concealed you’ve travel to tell?”

The memoir deed bookstore shelves successful March 2025, it spent weeks topping bestseller lists, but successful September, the New York Times published a bombshell exposé that poked holes successful Griffin’s account, and brought to ray that Griffin and her husband, hedge money billionaire John Griffin, put successful a institution that backs MDMA.

The Food and Drug Administration formally declined to o.k. nan supplier for therapeutic usage successful August 2024.

“The New York Times interviewed dozens of group from Amarillo, nan publishing manufacture and nan aesculapian and MDMA communities, on pinch Texas authorities, and reviewed nan book connection Ms. Griffin utilized to transportation her task to publishing houses,” nan outlet wrote.

Among those interviews was Griffin’s classmate from much than 35 years prior, who told nan outlet that she had been sexually assaulted by a different coach successful nan aforesaid locations that Griffin detailed, including astatine nan aforesaid middle-school dance.

The erstwhile classmate revenge her ain suit against Griffin successful March, and utilized nan sanction Jane Doe to protect her privacy. In nan suit, she claims that she was contacted by personification posing arsenic a talent supplier aliases shaper and tricked into offering “private specifications of her life” complete nan telephone successful 2022.

According to nan erstwhile classmate, she and Griffin were classmates and belonged to nan aforesaid religion younker group successful nan precocious 1980s. She alleged that astatine a “Sadie Hawkins” dance, she was sexually assaulted successful a closet by 1 of nan school’s teachers and that she was wearing a dress she’d borrowed from Griffin during nan assault. She claims she asked for forgiveness while astatine nan religion younker group gathering pinch Griffin successful attendance, and returned nan dress to Griffin pinch stains.

The March filing further stated that, a period later, she was sexually assaulted by nan aforesaid schoolteacher, this clip successful nan bathroom. “This battle was much violent, and during nan incident nan coach put his footwear connected her back, stuffed a bandanna successful her mouth, which later caught connected her braces, slammed her against nan wall, and whipped her pinch a belt,” sounds nan suit, which noted that she was 12 astatine nan time, surviving successful a group home, and was excessively frightened to study nan assaults.

The erstwhile classmate claims that “the specifications of these 2 intersexual assaults which she was nan unfortunate of were later converted by Griffin for usage successful nan memoir ‘The Tell.’”

According to Griffin’s dueling lawsuit, each constituent of her erstwhile classmate’s relationship is false, and nan accusation that Griffin “stole nan rape of different female and built a bestseller connected it” is fabricated.

Griffin’s suit claims that her erstwhile classmate hadn’t elaborate nan communicative arsenic her ain until nan New York Times sent her a transcript of “The Tell,” successful hunt of uncovering retired who nan existent personification down nan memoir’s characteristic “Claudia” was. Griffin further took purpose astatine nan New York Times, alleging nan outlet deemed nan communicative “too bully to scrutinize.”

“‘The Tell’ recounts Mrs. Griffin’s ain abuse: memories she recorded successful penning and reported to nan constabulary earlier [her erstwhile classmate] claims they were stolen,” sounds nan June filing.

New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said successful an email to nan Associated Press that Griffin’s suit “repeatedly misrepresents The New York Times communicative and its reporting.”

“Our communicative was astir a publishing phenomenon, nan reliability of memories recovered while nether nan power of MDMA and nan effect of a bestselling memoir connected nan author’s hometown,” she said. “Our reporters’ only schedule was to prosecute nan facts, including corroboration of accounts from each sources.”