Less than two weeks after the well-publicized split that shut down Rosie magazine, Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing filed a $100 million lawsuit against Rosie O'Donnell for pulling out of the joint venture.
The move comes as no surprise since the publisher said it was weighing its legal options when the termination of the agreement was announced Sept. 18.
O'Donnell and G+J had been squabbling over editorial control of the magazine for several months prior to the break.
Rosie hit newsstands in April 2001 as a replacement for G+J's ailing McCall's publication. It took off and, according to G+J, was on its way to profitability despite a 10 percent decline in subscriptions and newsstand sales this year. The September issue had a record number of ad pages even though advertising is down in many publications.
During the six months ending June 30, Rosie's total average paid circulation was 3.5 million, slightly below the 3.6 million circulation in the previous six months, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. At its height, Rosie had 3.8 million in circulation.
Reportedly, O'Donnell may file her own countersuit against G+J.
