Bestselling author of The Tell lashes out at NY Times in suit against woman who said her stories were stolen

The author of a bestselling memoir about childhood sexual abuse is lashing out at New York Times reporters for allegedly writing that she ripped off another woman’s account of sexual abuse despite having evidence to the contrary, according to a new federal lawsuit.Amy Griffin — the venture capitalist-turned-memoirist whose bestselling book “The Tell” won praise from celebrity friends including Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart — is suing a former classmate for defamation after she accused Griffin of stealing her childhood sexual-abuse story.The explosive claims are laid out in a federal defamation lawsuit Griffin filed Monday in Nevada against the woman.“Amy Griffin’s accuser has had every opportunity to set the record straight.This lawsuit’s purpose is to make the truth known.

The New York Times knowingly promoted her false allegations and must also be held accountable,” Griffin’s lawyer Tom Clare told The Post in a statement Tuesday.While the Times is not a defendant, Griffin’s 29-page complaint devotes significant space to the newspaper’s coverage, alleging that reporters pursued a narrative that Griffin’s account was fabricated and ignored evidence that undermined key allegations.“The story of how [Griffin’s accuser] came to tell these lies begins not with her but with the Times,” the complaint states.Griffin’s memoir is about recovering memories during MDMA-assisted therapy — an illegal practice that was rejected by the FDA last year — that led her to believe she had been repeatedly sexually abused by a middle-school teacher in Amarillo, Texas.The book became a publishing sensation after its March 2025 release, earning a spot in Oprah’s influential book club and drawing extensive media coverage.Last September, however, the Times published a lengthy investigation into the memoir, raising questions about the science of recovered memories and reporting a former classmate’s claims suggesting that Griffin ha...