You're on the money there
I once received a phone call from a relative who reads such drivel, telling me about an article in "that's life". Turns out , my ex-wife has scored $500 for a "true story" about my daughter having bulimia at age 6 and how I was the underlying cause. The child in question has never been bulimic, bearing in mind that mum would be a conservative 130 kg and considers that anyone thinner than her is anorexic. After contacting the magazine, they justified their "true story" by using the "as told by" phrase,instead of actual research, so in their eyes they had done no wrong. The worthless pricks then challenged me to write my own story to correct the one told,instead of them issueing a correction. Fuck them, I don't read their garbage, nor will I contribute to their profits.
(M61A1 CUPID- STUNTS, Sat 6 Feb 2010, 5:28, 1 reply)

Yes, that's the magazine down to a tee . . .
Full of stories about men/women who have been wronged, and how these "battlers" (God, I hate that word) have struggled through. Full of utter shit. You're right now to contribute to their ire, but you could also sue them - what they've written is hearsay, but still wrong and poentially damaging. And I'd like the fuckers to go out of business too . . .
( Mrs Legless . . . belongs to, well, you know . . . :), Sat 6 Feb 2010, 8:50, closed)

It gets worse...
"A source close to me" reliably informs me that half of those "real life" stories are made up. (And certainly when you see some of the more ridiculous "My dad beat me with my brother's severed penis while bumming my dog"-style stories, it's hardly surprising.)

Basically, when they're short of a story or two, they ring around various agents/managers and ask if they have anyone on their books willing to pose for a photograph next to some ridiculous story, under a false name, pretending to have had a child following a lesbian affair with their own grandmother. My friend does the odd bit of modelling work and received one such offer from her manager. She considered changing her manager after that one...
(LongJohnBaldry, Mon 8 Feb 2010, 9:45, closed)