In the Netherlands, some authors have decided to leave Dutch publisher VBK in protest of parent company KKR, NL Times reports. KKR has owned Simon & Schuster since 2023 and S&S purchased VBK last year. KKR invests in German publisher Axel Springer, which owns the Israeli classified site Yad2, which hosts real estate listings in occupied Palestinian territory. Protestors have also accused KKR of involvement with other Israeli businesses and defense companies that supply Israel. Author Dirk Wanrooij and other VBK authors are asking the publisher to speak out against the private equity company. “The publisher is hiding behind: ‘we have […]
Controversies
David Walliams Gives Nazi Salute at TV Recording
Bestselling British children’s author and actor David Walliams did a Nazi salute twice at a taping of a Christmas comedy special, the Times reports. During a taping of Would I Lie To You?, a panel member shared an anecdote about spraining her wrist from waving. Walliams “joined in with increasingly vigorous waves, culminating in him holding his arm out in a Nazi salute.” The host of the show “reprimanded” Walliams, but he made the gesture again, “embellishing it with a sexual twist.” The BBC and the show’s production company, Zeppotron, said that the footage will never air. “Any attempt at […]
BOMC Addresses Controversy Over James Frey’s Comments On AI
With James Frey’s novel NEXT TO HEAVEN publishing on June 17, a 2023 interview in which he said he was using generative AI in the writing of his work sparked controversy online. Critics shared an excerpt of the interview, noting that Book of the Month has selected his new novel NEXT TO HEAVEN as one of their upcoming picks. The AI portion of the interview refers specifically to a book-in-progress titled FOURSEVENTYSIX at the time. Frey has not published a book under that title, and it’s unclear whether that work has any relationship to NEXT TO HEAVEN. “Yes, I use […]
Outlets Apologize for AI-Generated Book List
The outlets behind a widely-circulated AI-created booklist, the majority of which were fake titles, have issued statements apologizing for the piece. The Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer, which both ran the “Heat Index” supplement that contained the list, noted that it was created by and syndicated from King Features, a division of Hearst. Neither paper’s newsroom staff had anything to do with it, they said. A spokesperson for King Features said in a statement, “King Features has a strict policy with our staff, cartoonists, columnists, and freelance writers against the use of AI to create content. “The Heat Index summer supplement […]
Newspapers Run Fake Summer Reading List
At least two major newspapers recently ran an AI-generated summer reading round up that featured several books that do not exist. The Philadelphia Inquirer (on May 15) and the Chicago Sun-Times (on May 18) both published a special insert, Heat Index: Your Best of Summer Guide, which included a list of 15 boks and brief descriptions. There are no publication records for nine of the listed books, including those by Isabel Allende, Andy Weir, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Min Jin Lee, Rumaan Alam, Rebecca Makkai, Maggie O’Farrell, Percival Everett, and Delia Owens. Confusingly, a few of the books at the end […]
PEN America Awards Invite Criticism for a Second Year
PEN America released longlists for its annual awards on Friday, and at least two authors report that they have withdrawn their books from consideration. Kaveh Akbar and Brandon Shimoda, whose books were longlisted for the $75,000 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, announced on social media that they were declining the nominations and referred readers to Writers Against the War on Gaza for more information. According to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, Shimoda’s book The Afterlife Is Letting Go did not appear when PEN posted the longlists, and as of press time Akbar’s Martyr! is still listed. WAWOG has criticized PEN America […]