By Alyson Fixter and Jeffrey Blyth in New York
Richard Desmond, who is currently trying to launch an American
version of OK! magazine, has been hit with estimated costs of a million
dollars after he tried to poach the editor of a rival title for the
project.
British journalist Nicola McCarthy – who previously edited OK! in
London – has been blocked by a New York judge from taking up her role
at Desmond’s new venture until she completes her contract at
competitior Us Weekly.
Us publisher Jan Wenner orginally claimed
damages of $5m from Desmond’s publishing company Northern & Shell,
but has settled for an undisclosed six-figure sum to cover the expense
of recruiting McCarthy and moving her to the US for the role.
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Combined
with legal fees, expenses and a trip to New York for the hearing, it is
thought Desmond’s total bill has reached close to a million dollars.
Desmond
reportedly offered Mc- Carthy $500,000 dollars a year (around £260,000
pa) to become editor of American OK!, compared with her $240,000 annual
salary at Us.
A spokeswoman for Northern & Shell said that
plans to launch American OK! in autumn this year, with McCarthy as
editor, were going ahead, but would not comment further.
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It is
not clear whether McCarthy will remain in New York to prepare for the
OK! launch until her contract with Wenner expires, or will return to
London temporarily.
A spokesman for Wenner said: “The only reason we did this [suit] was to defend our employment agreements with our workforce.”
He added, “If we let this go, our relationship with our workforce would have been in jeopardy.”
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