Stern Defiantly Promises Appeal in Burkle Lawsuit

Only hours after a New York State judge tossed his defamation lawsuit against Beverly Hills Billionaire Ron Burkle and Bill and Hillary Clinton, former New York Post reporter Jared Paul Stern wrote to LA Weekly in an email, "We will file an immediate appeal. The judge's opinion was biased and disgraceful."

Stern obviously wasn't pleased with yesterday's decision by New York State Supreme Court Judge Walter Tolub, who reportedly wrote that the defamation lawsuit against Burkle read like a "Mickey Spillane novel." (Click here for a copy of the complaint.)

Tolub concluded that Stern's complaint failed to "identify any of the supposedly false and defamatory statements that any of the defendants ever made or conveyed. Additionally, and equally important, is that the complaint does not deny that any acts or quotes attributed to plaintiff were untrue." Tolub also wasn't thrilled with Stern's lawyer, Larry Klayman, who has a history of suing the Clintons, describing him as an "avowed enemy" of the former president and New York senator.

"(The decision) read like a love letter to the Clintons and ignored several basic tenets of the law," shot back Stern in an email to the Weekly. "It should take a higher court all of 10 seconds to overturn it. We're just getting started. Burkle is a rapacious, evil bastard and he'll get what's coming to him sooner rather than later."

Stern and Klayman may want to read this critique of Tolub by New York City-based Judicial Reports, which points out that between 2000 and 2005, the judge has been reversed on appeal 36.6 percent of the time.

Stern was run out of New York City after Burkle charged that the former New York Post reporter--he wrote for the notorious "Page 6" gossip column--attempted a shake down to fund his clothing line, Skull & Bones. Stern was never charged with a single crime, although the FBI investigated the claim. But the New York Daily News--the archrival of the Post--ran a series of scathing articles on the reporter and "Page 6" that forced Stern to flee Manhattan for the Catskills, where he now lives with his wife. Stern claims Burkle fed the Daily News the information for the stories.

In a long interview for my recent feature story on Burkle, Stern was counting on a sizable judgment from the defamation lawsuit to help him get back on his feet. “We had to liquidate our retirement accounts,” Stern said, “and we’re far from recovered. It was devastating. It was [a] nightmare. And it’s still not over.”

Stern also told me he planned to see his lawsuit go as far as it can. He had no plans to back down any time soon.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.