Judge Dismisses Libel Suit Over Kitty Kelley Book

A Los Angeles federal judge has dismissed an unusual libel suit by a high-powered Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer who charged that celebrity author Kitty Kelley defamed him when she thanked him for acting as a source for her unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan.

In Kelley’s controversial 1991 book on the former First Lady, she listed attorney Mickey Rudin as one of 612 sources--the people she said had made “the most important contribution to this book.”

Rudin has steadfastly maintained that he never talked to Kelley or provided any assistance to the writer, with whom he previously tangled when she wrote her stinging volume “My Way” about his longtime client Frank Sinatra.

Among the most controversial charges in Kelly’s book, “Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography,” was that Sinatra and Reagan were involved in a lengthy affair, including assignations during long White House lunches. Sinatra denied such a relationship, Reagan made no direct comment and Rudin said in an interview that he did not believe the pair were an item.

Rudin’s primary contention in his suit was that Kelley had maliciously listed him as a source for the Reagan book to falsely create the impression that he revealed confidential information about Sinatra, whom he represented from 1955 to 1987.

Rudin is not quoted in the book or mentioned in the 528 pages of text. He appears only in the acknowledgments section and in footnotes to one chapter that refer to correspondence with Rudin.

Victor Navasky, editor of the Nation, dubbed the case “libel by thank you.”

Rudin charged that he suffered injury to his personal and professional reputation, incurred legal fees in waging the suit and suffered “great upset, shock, mental suffering, and emotional distress, along with shame, humiliation and embarrassment.”

In two separate opinions in recent weeks, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled against Rudin, who has been one of the country’s most powerful show business lawyers for four decades, with a client list that included Lucille Ball, George Burns and Marilyn Monroe.

Wilson also granted summary judgments in favor of Kelley’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, and its parent company, Paramount Communications.

First, the judge ruled that Rudin had failed to prove that he had been damaged in the manner necessary under California law to sustain his charges of libel or invasion of privacy. Wilson wrote that the 72-year-old lawyer had conceded that he did not know of any business he or his firm had lost because of the book and that the income from his law practice actually increased immediately after its publication.

Then Wilson rejected Rudin’s charge that Kelley had violated the federal Lanham Act by falsely identifying him as a source in the book and thereby giving the misimpression that he was in some way associated with it.

Rudin’s secretary said he was out of town and unavailable for comment. Neither Kelley’s personal attorney nor lawyers from Munger, Tolles & Olson, the Los Angeles firm that represented her and Simon & Schuster, had any comment.