Three women spoke to NPR on the record to accuse Sherman Alexie of inappropriate conduct, after he addressed anonymous allegations in a statement last week. NPR received reports about Alexie from a total of 10 women, but seven have chosen to remain anonymous. They say: “A clear pattern emerged: The women reported behavior ranging from inappropriate comments both in private and in public, to flirting that veered suddenly into sexual territory, unwanted sexual advances and consensual sexual relations that ended abruptly. The women said Alexie had traded on his literary celebrity to lure them into uncomfortable sexual situations.” Erika Wurth, a 22-year-old Native American […]
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Fire and Fury Started as “The Great Transition”
Bloomberg takes a deeper look at how Michael Wolff got his steady access to the White House, noting the early, misleading working title of his book was The Great Transition: The First 100 Days of the Trump Administration. “In part due to that title, Wolff was able to exploit an inexperienced White House staff who mistakenly believed they could shape the book to the president’s liking.” Bloomberg says Wolff visited the White House “about 17 times, according to a person familiar with the matter.” While Bannon gets much of the blame for allowing Wolff in, “privately, Trump allies say other top aides […]
Macmillan CEO: “We will not allow any president to achieve by intimidation what our Constitution precludes”
John Sargent, ceo of Macmillan — the parent company of Henry Holt, the publisher of Michael Wolff’s FIRE AND FURY — sent the following letter to the company’s employees on Monday morning, provided to Publishers Lunch: To: All Macmillan Employees From: John Sargent Last Thursday, shortly after 7:00 a.m., we received a demand from the President of the United States to “immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination” of Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury. On Thursday afternoon we responded with a short statement saying that we would publish the book, and we moved the pub date forward to the next day. […]
Updates: Avedon Book, Milo’s Manuscript, and Book World’s Final Days
The NYT looked at the controversy over Norma Stevens and Steven Aronson’s Avedon: Something Personal, which we covered before the break. Publisher Spiegel & Grau adds to their earlier statement, now denying the Avedon Foundation’s claim that the book was mistakenly based in part on an unfinished autobiographical novel Avedon had worked on: “Norma Stevens did not copy or use a Richard Avedon novel in any way in writing Avedon: Something Personal. The Avedon Foundation has made loose, unsubstantiated allegations of copyright infringement without presenting any documented instances of substantial similarity between our book and another work.” But no one else seems to […]
Minnesota Public Radio Fires Garrison Keillor Over Allegation Of Improper Behavior
Minnesota Public Radio has terminated its contracts with Garrison Keillor, producer of the Writer’s Almanac series and former host of A Prairie Home Companion, “after recently learning of inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.” MPR said in a statement, “MPR takes these allegations seriously and we are committed to maintaining a safe, respectful and supportive work environment for all employees and everyone associated with MPR. We want a workplace where anyone who experiences unwanted behavior feels comfortable in reporting concerns to MPR. Discrimination, harassment, retaliation or other inappropriate behaviors will not be tolerated.” Keillor told the AP he was […]
Weinstein Author Brzezinski Protests, and Then Weinstein Is Fired
Allegations about Harvey Weinstein’s years of multiple incidents of sexual harassment became relevant to the Weinstein Company’s small presence in book publishing over the weekend. MSNBC news personality Mika Brzezinski, who announced a new deal with Weinstein Books in July, said via Twitter: “I have a three-book deal with Weinstein Books, through Hachette. I can’t go forward with those books unless Harvey resigns.” He didn’t resign, but on Sunday the remaining board members — four of the all-male nine-person board had already resigned — fired Weinstein. A statement said he was dismissed “in light of new information about misconduct…that has emerged in […]