Business Law: Principles for Today's Commercial Environment 3rd Edition by Marianne Moody Jennings, David Twomey, Marianne Jennings

Exercise 11

Oprah Winfrey named James Frey's autobiographical book, A Million Little Pieces, to her television book club. The impact of the book's inclusion in the Oprah Book Club was the sale of 10 million copies, making it the fastest-selling book in the club's history. The book allegedly addressed Mr. Frey's addictions and recovery. However, on January 8, 2006, the Web site The Smoking Gun found significant and multiple discrepancies between Frey's accounts of his life experiences in the book and what really happened. For example, Frey wrote that he spent 87 days in prison. In reality, he spent 3 hours. When the discrepancies initially emerged, Ms. Winfrey defended Mr. Frey, saying the book was the "essential truth" about his life. She also called the controversy "much ado about nothing."
The public reaction was different, and Ms. Winfrey had Mr. Frey on her show, or, as some critics labeled it, "had him into the woodshed." Ms. Winfrey told Mr. Frey, "I feel really duped. You betrayed millions of readers. Why would you lie "
In the week following his Oprah appearance, Mr. Frey sold 50,000 copies of A Million Little Pieces, but the publisher for his next book canceled his contract. However, Mr. Frey rebounded and found another publisher for a book released in 2008. Was there truthfulness in his book Mr. Frey said the book was a "creative novel memoir" that had not been intended to be autobiographical. Does this clarification help Were Mr. Frey's actions ethical Evaluate Ms. Winfrey's initial response.