Jerry Seinfeld Files Counter-Suit Against Cook

U.S. comedian JERRY SEINFELD has launched legal action after the woman who claims his wife plagiarised her cookbook also accused him of slander.

In a counter-lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday (27Aug08), Seinfeld hits back at chef Missy Chase Lapine - who sued his wife Jessica in January (08).

Lapine claimed bestselling cookbook Deceptively Delicious had been "brazenly plagiarised" from her own book The Sneaky Chef - both of which describe how to hide healthy ingredients in children's foods.

Seinfeld's subsequent appearance on U.S. TV show The Late Show with David Letterman, calling Lapine a "wacko" and "mentally unhinged celebrity stalker", prompted the chef to add a defamation charge against the funnyman.

Seinfeld's lawyers are reportedly vying to get the defamation suit against him dismissed, insisting his stint on the show was meant for laughs and is protected by his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.