Writer of "Daily Show" Sues Over Reneged Book Deal for Batali Show

By now everyone has heard about the upcoming PBS series "Spain...on the Road Again", featuring Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow eating their way through the Spanish countryside. What you may not have known is that a companion book to the series was scheduled to concide with the September 2008 premiere of the series, penned and conceptualized by former "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" writer, Ben Karlin.

Karlin is suing food television producer Charles Pinsky for reneging on his contract. Karlin contends that Batali insisted on hiring relatives to help with book design, and refused to contribute recipes and photographs for use in the publication, though control over design and input from Batali were all promised in Karlin's contract. According to the lawsuit, when Karlin asked to lessen his own involvement in the book, Batali reportedly demanded that the writer be fired. Karlin is suing for $125,000, which includes the cost of 2 trips to Spain.

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