Stern: I Was Set Up

New York Post gossip columnist Jared Paul Stern, caught on tape trying to extort a billionaire, is resorting to the Marion Barry defense.

Embattled New York Post gossip writer Jared Paul Stern has come out swinging against the billionaire he’s been accused of trying to extort $220,000 from in return for favorable coverage on the powerful gossip page. Stern told ABC News, “I was the one who was targeted,” claiming he was “set up” by supermarket magnate Ron Burkle. Stern said that Burkle contacted him last summer through a mutual friend in an effort to reduce the number of negative items appearing about him on Page Six.

On a videotape recorded by Burkle’s security cameras and partially transcribed in The New York Daily News, Stern is reportedly heard describing working with the Post’s Page Six as a “little like the mafia â€¦ a friend of yours is a friend of mine.”

In a statement issued Sunday, Burkle’s spokesman, Michael Sitrick, said that, “Mr. Stern’s re-characterization of events are just that. “As to what occurred in the meetings between Messrs. Burkle and Stern,” the statement added, “the tapes are very clear as to what Mr. Stern said and what he didn’t say. They are also clear with respect to what Mr. Stern meant.”

Hey, it worked for Barry. . . .

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Stern: I Was Set Up

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