LEGAL FILE

Comedian Joan Rivers and writer Ben Stein have agreed to settle her $50 million libel lawsuit over his magazine story alleging she joked about the death of her husband. Rivers agreed to drop the lawsuit and Stein agreed to donate money to charities of her choosing. Richard Grant, Rivers’ publicist, said further details of the settlement will not be disclosed. The Stein story was published in GQ magazine in December, 1987. The article described “certain events and conversations prior to and just after the tragic death of Joan Rivers’ husband, Edgar Rosenberg,” the statement said. Rivers contended the conversations never took place. Stein said he used sources he believed to be reliable. He said the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. Stein and the magazine said they “sincerely regret any inadvertent imputation of negative or inappropriate conduct.”