'The Tell' controversy explained: Why the celeb favorite memoir is being questioned

After being endorsed by the top celebrity book clubs, the best-selling memoir is under new scrutinyAmy Griffin's "The Tell" was destined for success. For the first time ever, the memoir received joint promotion by the leaders of three major book clubs: Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager and Oprah Winfrey, who celebrated the launch together at an event in March. Winfrey chose it as her March 2025 book club pick. In “The Tell,” Griffin recounts her experience of coming to terms with previously uncovered memories of alleged childhood abuse by a teacher. Now, a New York Times investigation is raising questions about Griffin's claims and is reigniting the debate about repressed memories and psychedelic-assisted therapy.What is the controversy surrounding ‘The Tell’ by Amy Griffin?Griffin’s memoir details her journey through MDMA-assisted therapy, which she says helped her uncover years of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a teacher in middle and high school in Texas. Griffin says she had no memory of the abuse until she tried psychedelics, but knew going into therapy that she had childhood and sexual trauma she wanted to explore. On an episode of Winfrey’s book club podcast, she said that before the sessions she didn’t know what that trauma was. “The secret that I discovered was the idea that I had been, for many years, abused in the school bathroom by a teacher,” Griffin said on Winfrey’s podcast. “I decided that, you know, if I went in and criminally investigated this person and I did everything I could to hold this person accountable, that if I could do that, then I would show that I was right and he was wrong.”Griffin spoke with a detective to open a criminal case against the teacher, but the statute of limitations had run out.The Times investigation, which included interviews of dozens of people in Amarillo, where Griffin went to school, found that after the publicity surrounding Griffin's book, no other students came forward and no legal complaints were filed. That surprised both the detective Griffin spoke to and a local victim advocacy counselor. (Experts say prominent disclosures can encourage other survivors to speak out.) One former classmate of Griffin’s, who spoke anonymously to the Times, said her childhood abuse was “eerily similar” to what Griffin describes in “The Tell” – but at the hands of a different teacher, not the teacher Griffin describes in the book. The classmate has retained a lawyer since reading the memoir, the Times reported. Griffin’s defamation lawyer told the Times that anyone who reads the book could make the false claim to have memories of abuse that align with what Ms. Griffin wrote. But the Times report says that the classmate read the book after sharing her story with them.Representatives for Griffin did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.'The Tell' controversy reflects larger memory debateThe concept of uncovering memories through therapy is hotly debated, and recovering memories in psychedelic-assisted treatment is a relatively new one.Jim Hopper, a clinical psychologist and expert on trauma and memory, prefers the term “delayed recall” as a more accurate descriptor than "repressed memories" because the biological effects of stress can cause survivors to deeply store memories of their trauma. When a survivor retrieves those memories depends largely on context and cues, such as going back to the location where the trauma occurred. “People can go for years, even decades, without encountering what for them are the right combinations of context and cues to elicit recall,” Hopper told USA TODAY. Entering a safe therapy setting ready to explore unresolved trauma, he says, could be that environment. Hopper, who read both “The Tell” and the Times investigation, says he has seen some patients who falsely believe they’re remembering an experience that never occurred, but says he’s seen many more cases that have been independently corroborated.“(Griffin) did have, this sense – this belief, we can say – that something happened to her that she wasn't remembering,” Hopper says. “Some ideas and beliefs could potentially lead her to recall something that didn't happen, but it also could be based in reality that something did happen to her, and she finally felt safe to allow herself to be open to what it might be.”Overall, Hopper worries that this debate will make people hesitant to believe victims of sexual assault.Who is Amy Griffin?Griffin is a venture capitalist and an author. She founded investment firm G9, which has backed female-founded brands like Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, Spanx, Bumble and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.Griffin grew up the daughter of a prominent Texas family known for owning “Toot'n Totum,” a chain of convenience stores and car wash services. Before her investment ventures, Griffin worked in marketing for magazines like Ms. and Sports Illustrated. She is married to John Griffin, the founder of Blue Ridge Capital hedge fund. They have four children.In April, she was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. In her tribute piece, friend Witherspoon called Griffin “a beacon for women everywhere.”Winfrey, when selecting the book, said she was "floored" by Griffin's story.“What she discovered about herself, about her past made me recognize how powerful the desire to forget is and also how powerful the desire to remember is,” Winfrey said in a video. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Winfrey for comment.This isn’t the first Oprah’s Book Club controversyAfter Winfrey chose James Frey’s memoir “A Million Little Pieces” in 2005, its authenticity was called into question. Frey was largely outcast from literary fame for lying about parts of his drug addiction, criminal history and time in rehab. Winfrey challenged Frey and his publisher on her show, but apologized in 2011 for being too harsh. Despite the pair hugging it out on air, Frey told The New York Times in an interview published June 8 he hadn’t forgiven her and was still angry.If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE and online.rainn.org).Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com.This story has been updated.

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