Bestselling memoir author Amy Griffin sued a former classmate for defamation Monday, accusing the woman of falsely claiming Griffin stole her story of sexual abuse and used it as the foundation for Griffin's 2025 memoir, The Tell.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Nevada, alleges the former classmate falsely portrayed Griffin as "a fraud and a thief" in comments published by The New York Times and in a separate lawsuit filed earlier this year.
According to Griffin's complaint, the woman effectively accused her of taking another survivor's story and turning it into a bestselling book. Griffin argues the allegations are "false in every element."
A spokesperson for The New York Times rejected that characterization, saying the lawsuit misrepresents the newspaper's reporting. The woman, who has accused Griffin of appropriating details of her abuse, said through attorneys that the facts would ultimately be established in court.
The Tell, an Oprah's Book Club selection, details Griffin's account of being sexually abused by a teacher while attending middle school in Amarillo, Texas. Griffin wrote that she later recovered memories of the abuse through therapy involving MDMA.
The dispute erupted after The New York Times published a story examining the memoir and reporting claims from a former classmate who said aspects of Griffin's account closely resembled her own experiences. The woman later filed a lawsuit in California, which Griffin is seeking to dismiss.
Griffin's new lawsuit argues her account predates any alleged contact with the woman. The complaint says Griffin documented her abuse in writing in 2020 and provided a detailed statement to Amarillo police in 2021, years before she allegedly obtained information from the woman.
The lawsuit also challenges key claims made by the accuser, alleging Griffin had not spoken to her in more than three decades and disputing assertions that the two met for coffee in California in 2019. Griffin's attorneys say records and witness accounts contradict that version of events.
The woman, who filed her California lawsuit anonymously as Jane Doe, accused Griffin of trying to intimidate her through litigation.
"Despite trying to remain anonymous, Amy has now chosen to use her immense wealth and influence to try and silence me," she said in a statement provided through her lawyers.
Griffin is seeking damages and a court declaration that allegations she stole another survivor's story are false.
Although The New York Times is not named as a defendant, the lawsuit sharply criticizes the newspaper's reporting. Griffin's attorneys claim the paper failed to properly scrutinize the allegations before publication.
The newspaper strongly disputed those claims.
"Our reporters' only agenda was to pursue the facts," spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said, adding that the paper extensively fact-checked the story and worked with Griffin's legal team before publication.
The Times also said several allegations Griffin now disputes — including claims involving a talent agent and the identity of a person referenced in the memoir — were never reported in its article.
The legal battle now pits a bestselling author against a former classmate over competing accounts of trauma, memory and truth, with both sides insisting the evidence supports their version of events.
