American businesswoman, editor, publisher, writer who became embroiled in controversy and was fired by HarperCollins.
Regan had her own imprint with HarperCollins and was not afraid to publish serious subject matter along with that which bordered or exceeded sensationalism. She moved her small publishing crew to New York in 2001 from Los Angeles with the intent to combine book publishing with movie and TV projects. In 2006 she signed O.J. Simpson’s book, “If I Did It” but the news of his intention to publish the book caused a hue and cry all over the country. In late November 2006 book was pulled. Regan was fired in December and within the month filed suit for $100 million against Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation and its subsidiary HarperCollins for discrimination and defamation. After a messy review, the litigants settled in January 2008 for a reported $10.75 million.
Regan joined Murdoch’s empire in May 1994. From 1989 she had been working at Simon and Schuster where she built quite a reputation for herself as an ambitious editor who had signed the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern and other high-flying people and it was Stern who introduced her to Murdoch.But Regan was unhappy at Simon and Schuster because the company stifled her ambition to work with its parent Paramount Communications as a bridge between books and movies/television.
Regan got her start in journalism. After earning her degree from Vassar College, she landed a job at the Enquirer. Her experience at the tabloid including going undercover as a man and writing about various tragedies that occupy the publication. She then jumped to producing “Entertainment Tonight,” and “Geraldo,” television shows which covered athe wide world of entertainment and human interest stories including tabloid news features. In 1987 she contacted Simoon and Schuster with a book proposal and was hired to work there instead. She made a name for herself signing tell-all books written by the likes of Drew Barrymore, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Dawn Steel. All the while her reputation for hard-hitting, no-nonsense, sometimes obscenity-filled comments and directives continued to develop.
Regan claims to have been abused in two relationships and has written fiction based on her experiences. She married in 1987 and divorced her husband Robert in 1994. He had two sons from a previous marriage and the couple had two children together.
Link to Wikipedia biography