A woman, identified only as Jane Doe, has filed a lawsuit against author and venture capitalist Amy Griffin concerning the content of Griffin's bestselling memoir, The Tell, published in 2025. The lawsuit alleges that Griffin's descriptions of childhood sexual abuse mirror Jane Doe's own experiences, suggesting that Griffin's narrative was appropriated from her life story.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. An attorney representing Griffin characterized the claims as "absurd" and "meritless," asserting that the suit lacks any foundation. Griffin's memoir details her journey of uncovering suppressed memories of sexual abuse through therapy that involved using the psychedelic drug MDMA. In her book, Griffin recounts being abused by a teacher at her middle school in Amarillo, Texas, during the 1980s, stating, "I knew that these memories were real. My body knew what had happened to me."
The memoir, which once featured as an Oprah's Book Club selection, received endorsements from celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow. In the lawsuit, Doe claims the descriptions in The Tell correspond to her own experiences of sexual assault that occurred with a different teacher, including incidents at a school dance and in a bathroom. The lawsuit suggests that Griffin had prior knowledge of these events.
The legal complaint argues that The Tell does not constitute a genuine or harmless memoir, and it accuses Griffin of engaging in intrusion, invasion of privacy, publication of private facts, negligence, and infliction of emotional distress. The plaintiff seeks damages that will be determined during the trial. Additionally, Griffin's publishers and a ghostwriter are also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
A report from The New York Times in September raised questions about the reliability of Griffin's memories and highlighted financial ties between Griffin and prominent individuals who promoted the book. Jane Doe claims she first learned of the memoir's existence through this reporting, and she insists that a character named Claudia closely resembles her own life. The lawsuit notes, “She further recognized that a number of stories attributed to the memories of Defendant GRIFFIN that supposedly resurfaced during MDMA therapy were actually her own real life past experiences.”
Griffin’s attorney, Thomas A. Clare, stated that they eagerly anticipate the opportunity to disprove the claims in court and to challenge what they believe is flawed reporting by The New York Times. He expressed that the media’s narrative initiated this situation, leading Jane Doe to publicize her own experiences. Clare accused the newspaper of constructing an inaccurate narrative based on red-flag warnings they received.
In response, Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for The New York Times, expressed confidence in the accuracy of their reporting. The lawsuit further claims that during an assault at the school dance, Jane Doe was wearing a dress she had borrowed from Griffin, suggesting that those present at the dance could have observed evidence of the abuse based on her demeanor before and after the event. The complaint also notes that Jane Doe returned the dress to Griffin, which either contained bodily fluids or other evidence related to the assault.
The lawsuit indicates that Jane Doe and Griffin met for the first time in decades at a coffee shop in California in 2019, an encounter mentioned in the memoir. However, according to the plaintiff, she did not discuss her past abuses during the meeting. She states that she had previously shared detailed accounts of her abuse with a talent agent who later claimed to have learned about her story through a third party. After Doe raised concerns about the agent's inquiries, communication ceased, and she contends that details from their conversations made their way into The Tell.
