Memoir Author Sues Classmate Over Story Theft Claims

Author Amy Griffin filed a federal defamation lawsuit in Nevada on June 15 against a former middle school classmate who accused her of appropriating the classmate's story of sexual abuse for the memoir 'The Tell.' The complaint states that every element of the classmate's account is false and denies that Griffin stole another woman's experience to build a bestseller.

Griffin published 'The Tell' in 2025, describing how MDMA-assisted therapy surfaced memories of alleged childhood sexual abuse by a teacher in Amarillo, Texas. The book received endorsements from Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager, and Oprah Winfrey, who selected it for her March 2025 book club.

A New York Times investigation published in September featured interviews with people in Amarillo and included an account from an anonymous woman who described eerily similar abuse by a different teacher.

The classmate, identified in court filings as Joleene Altum, filed suit against Griffin in California in March, alleging unauthorized use of her identity, likeness, and private information. Altum also claimed she is the girl referred to in the book under the pseudonym Claudia.

Griffin responded with a countersuit and an Anti-SLAPP motion seeking dismissal of Altum's case. Griffin's attorneys stated that Griffin has not seen Altum in 35 years, that the two never met in 2019, and that Griffin met with the real Claudia in April 2023.

>"Mrs. Griffin takes no position on whether Ms. Altum has been sexually abused at the hands of a teacher or anyone else. A declaration submitted by a man named Dominique Price states that he never met or contacted Altum.