Judith Regan, the publisher who was fired after recruiting O.J. Simpson to write a book about his wife's murder, has been accused of making remarks that a "Jewish cabal" had ganged up against her.

Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp., cancelled publication of the Simpson book on Nov. 20. Regan was then fired Dec. 15 and has since threatened a lawsuit against her former employer.

Judith Regan, the fired publisher of the O.J. Simpson book, has been accused of making remarks about a 'Jewish cabal.'
(Stuart Ramson/Associated Press)

A spokesman for News Corp., the parent company of HarperCollins, issued a statement Monday about Regan's comments.

Andrew Butcher said Regan had been talking to HarperCollins attorney Mark Jackson about the content and release of an upcoming novel about baseball player Mickey Mantle. Butcher says Jackson took notes of the telephone discussion.

He says Regan was frustrated by what she thought was HarperCollins' lack of support for the book and complained to Jackson about the CEO of the publishing house, Jane Friedman, executive editor David Hershey and literary agent Esther Newberg. Regan called the three the "Jewish cabal."

According to Butcher, Regan then said: "Of all people, Jews should know about ganging up, finding common enemies and telling the big lie."

Regan's lawyer, Bert Fields, said his client "didn't have an anti-Semitic bone in her body" and said the remarks were "completely untrue." He acknowledges Regan had an argument with Jackson, but that was all.

On Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League stepped in to condemn Regan's remarks.

"If Ms. Regan did make the charge that a Jewish cabal was conspiring against her, she clearly stepped over the line by employing the age-old anti-Semitic canard that Jews conspire against non-Jews," said ADL national director Abraham H. Foxman.

"Whatever her dispute with HarperCollins, the Jewishness of her critics had absolutely no relevance to the matter at hand."

Future of Mantle book undecided

The planned book behind the controversy, titled 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel, by Peter Golenbock, has the author stepping into Mantle's shoes, and confessing to his sexual exploits, including a tryst with Marilyn Monroe. The premise has outraged Mantle's family and supporters.

Similarly, the Simpson book, If I Did It, had the former football star telling how he would have, hypothetically, killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. The book was met with revulsion and condemnation from both the victims' families and the book industry.

In a controversial decision, Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of their murders. He was later found liable in a wrongful-death suit filed by the Goldman family, but has yet to pay the $33.5 million US judgment.

Regan defended her project, saying she felt the book would have been a confession, and that she thought proceeds of the sale would go to Simpson's kids. Regan also said that she had been a victim of domestic violence in her 20s.

If I Did It was to be published under ReganBooks, an imprint created in 1994 by HarperCollins for Judith Regan. 

The future of the Mantle book hangs in the air. Fields said HarperCollins had told Regan the book was "unpublishable."

Regan's batting average has been exceptional since arriving at HarperCollins. She was responsible for several bestsellers, including baseball player Jose Canseco's steroid revelation, Juiced, and Jenna Jameson's How to Make Love Like a Porn Star.

With files from the Associated Press