Judith Regan, the controversial head of Regan Media who was axed last Friday, was said to have lashed out against a “Jewish cabal” in the publishing world that was conspiring against her.
The rant came when she and News Corp. attorney Mark Jackson were discussing her latest controversial book, a novel about Yankee great Mickey Mantle.
Regan Media is a unit of HarperCollins, which is owned by The Post’s parent company, News Corp.
The yet-to-be released Mantle book, fiction told in the first person, depicts the Yankee legend telling of his drinking, womanizing and of a one-night stand with Marilyn Monroe, the wife of his superstar teammate, Joe DiMaggio.
It comes only weeks after News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch had canceled plans to publish Regan’s “If I Did It” by O.J. Simpson and scrapped pre-publication interview shows that were going to run on Fox TV with Regan and Simpson.
The New York Times was the first to reveal the talk of anti-Semitic rantings by Regan. She has retained Hollywood litigator Bert Fields, who had dismissed the claims of anti-Semitism as “completely untrue.”
Andrew Butcher, a spokesman for News Corp., said that Jackson had taken careful notes during the conversation with Regan, in which she is said to have become angry over what she termed “non-support” by HarperCollins for the Mantle book.
She is said to have told Jackson that “Jews should know about ganging up and finding common enemies and telling the big lie.”
She said the “Jewish cabal” included HarperCollins’ CEO Jane Friedman, the firm’s executive editor David Hirshey and Esther Newberg, a veteran literary agent at ICM.
It was Friedman who had issued a terse statement shortly after 7 p.m. Friday stating that Regan had been fired.
Fields has earlier told the Associated Press that Regan “didn’t have an anti-Semitic bone in her body” and had threatened to sue.
Before the latest eruption, rumors had been swirling through the publishing world on where Regan would land next and who, if any, among her high-profile authors might follow her out the door.
One rumor had her headed to CNBC. She currently does a weekly radio talk show for Sirius Satellite Radio.
Regan has run Regan Books since 1994 and earlier this year moved the operation to Los Angeles and reflagged it Regan Media.
Her authors are frequently controversial and many – such as former porn start Jenna Jameson, former gay New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and Neil Strauss, author of the pick-up book, “The Game” – were heavily wooed and marketed by Regan.
At least one industry executive said that at his company executives were already speculating about which of her stable of writers would follow her out the door.
Authors sometimes insert clauses into their contracts which say they can leave if a favorite editor or publisher leaves or is canned.
“Companies usually hate those clauses, but Judith is Judith and it’s all about Judith, so you never know,” said one executive, who said internal speculation had already begun.
HarperCollins said on Friday that the unit that Regan is heading is now going to be run by editorial director Cal Morgan.
One literary agent said she was still awaiting word to see what and how the publisher planned to continue with their planned book.
“I’m just trying to be patient,” said Laura Dahl, who recently had supermodel Carol Alt sign a two-book deal for novels loosely based on her life.