Bad Company

As a rule, Henry Kissinger keeps the very best company. The former Secretary of State advises Presidents, lectures at major universities and is entertained by heads of state; he offers his opinions in a syndicated newspaper column and on ABC-TV's Nightline. Thus, imagine Kissinger's dismay when he discovered that an "exclusive" interview with him would appear in the December issue of Penthouse magazine.

Consternation quickly turned to legal action last week when Kissinger filed suit for $10 million in damages in New York State Supreme Court, charging magazine and interviewer with misappropriating his name for profit and placing him "before the public in a false light." His lawyers also sought an injunction against distribution of the issue, due to appear nationwide the following day. Though the judge rejected that demand, a February trial date was set for Kissinger's charges.

How did Kissinger end up in the magazine, his words sandwiched between a picture spread of a naked woman and a story on wrestling? Last May he gave a 23-minute interview to Russell Warren Howe, a veteran journalist (the London Sunday Times and Washington Post) and author, who is writing a book on statesmanship and politics in international affairs. "I interviewed him on that basis," admits Howe. In July, however, he sold the piece, for an undisclosed sum, to Penthouse, where the questioner's name was changed to that of the magazine.

The magazine has previously ignored the wishes of Pop Singer Madonna and 1984 Miss America Vanessa Williams by publishing their nude photos and of the Rev. Jerry Falwell by running interviews the Fundamentalist preacher had given to two free-lance writers. Falwell sued for more than $40 million in damages, but the suit was dismissed; the judge ruled that the magazine's First Amendment rights could not be restricted just because Falwell did not like the forum.

One might wonder just how interested regular Penthouse readers will be in Kissinger's comments on East-West relations and the emergence of China as an economic power. Then again, Editor-Publisher Bob Guccione may have had a different goal in mind by printing the interview. "It is a very inexpensive way for us to sell more copies," says Guccione. "People hearing about all this will feel compelled to go out and buy the magazine."