• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

Hachette Cancels Woody Allen Book After Employee Protest

March 6, 2020
By Michael Cader

On Friday afternoon Hachette Book Group announced that it “has decided that it will not publish Woody Allen’s memoir A Propos of Nothing…and will return all rights to the author.” The cancellation followed a protest from HBG employees on Thursday that drew international media attention.

The company noted in their statement that, “We are committed to offering a stimulating, supportive and open work environment for all our staff. Over the past few days, HBG leadership had extensive conversations with our staff and others. After listening, we came to the conclusion that moving forward with publication would not be feasible for HBG.”

They also commented: “The decision to cancel Mr. Allen’s book was a difficult one. At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly. We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books. As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of views can be heard.”

As we reported earlier today, Hachette divisions were planning to publish translations of Allen’s book in France and Spain. HBG had acquired world rights and sub-licensed the book in multiple territories; the translation rights also reverted to the author “who will decide what he wants to do [about] foreign editions.”

Earlier in the day, an anonymous HBG employee told a Refinery29 reporter, “I don’t think they expected us to be as angry as we are.”

Filed Under: Authors, Free, News

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • If or When Amazon Wants to Identify Books Made By AI, Software Detection Companies Say They Are Ready September 29, 2023 Wired
  • Cundhill History Prize Shortlist Announced September 28, 2023 Prize site
  • Nobel for Literature to be Announced October 5 September 28, 2023 NYT
  • With Sales Down 30% on Book Bans, Levine Querido Authors Raise Over $100,000 In Auction September 27, 2023 PW
  • Taylor & Francis to Make Voluntary Separation Offer; Threatens Layoffs to Follow September 25, 2023 Bookseller
  • Rupert Murdoch to Retire from News Corp and Fox Boards September 21, 2023 NYT
  • OpenAI's New DALL-E3 Lets Artists Opt-Out of Future Training; Rejects Request to Mimic the Style of Living Artists September 20, 2023 TechCrunch
  • Another Response to AI-Generated Books: KDP Lowers Limit On Number of Titles You Can Create, "To Help Protect Against Abuse" September 18, 2023 KDP Forum
  • TikTok (and Instagram) Stars Sell Cookbooks September 18, 2023 NYT
  • Actor and UK Harry Potter Audiobook Narrator Stephen Fry Demonstrates How His Voice Was Copied By AI Without Permission September 18, 2023 Deadline
© 2023 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.