Penguin UK editor Donald Futers was accused of sexual misconduct by poet AK Blakemore. Blakemore wrote on Twitter in an attached statement: “I first met Donald Futers, Penguin’s Poetry Editor, at a reading in London in the Autumn of 2015 I attended with my then partner. A few months later, after a second reading, Donald & I exchanged numbers and planned to meet to discuss my work. The evening of that meeting he assaulted me. We had both been drinking. I disclosed what had happened at the time to my partner and a few close friends.” Blakemore writes that she decided […]
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Junot Diaz Accused of Misconduct, and Responds, “I Take Responsibility for My Past”
Junot Diaz was accused of inappropriate behavior by author Zinzi Clemmons on Friday, writing on Twitter: “As a grad student, I invited Junot Diaz to speak to a workshop on issues of representation in literature. I was an unknown wide-eyed 26 yo, and he used it as an opportunity to corner and forcibly kiss me. I’m far from the only one he’s done this 2, I refuse to be silent anymore.” Clemmons posted online after questioning Diaz from the audience at a Q&A session at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, where both were speaking. “This was my question [she wrote later […]
Harper’s Magazine Fires Editor James Marcus
Subsequent to our brief note from Monday that Harper’s Magazine editor James Marcus has left the publication, Marcus tells PL that he was fired on Friday afternoon, for “opposing the publication of Katie Roiphe’s cover story in the March issue.” The article, “The Other Whisper Network: How Twitter feminism is bad for women,” drew criticism online in January before it was published, over suggestions that Roiphe intended to reveal the identity of the creator of the “Sh—y Media Men” list. That controversy led to the list’s creator Moira Donegan identifying herself in her own article for The Cut. Marcus gave us […]
Three Named Women Accuse Alexie Of Inappropriate Conduct
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 […]
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. […]