Multiple Reports: “Publishing Staff Walk Out in Protest of Woody Allen’s Upcoming Memoir”

UPDATE March 9, 2020

• Woody Allen Memoir May Still Go Ahead In France, Despite Controversy (via The Guardian)

UPDATE March 6, 2020

• Publisher Cancels Plans To Release Woody Allen Memoir (via AP)
• Hachette Book Group Says it Will Not Publish Woody Allen Memoir (via PW)
• Publisher Drops Woody Allen’s Memoir Amid Ronan Farrow Criticism, Employee Protests (via USA Today)
• Woody Allen’s Publisher Canceled His Memoir After Staff Walked Out (Via Vox)

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From The Los Angeles Times:

Just days after Hachette Book Group announced a forthcoming memoir by Woody Allen, staff at Little, Brown and Co. staged a walkout in protest of the book and in support of its vocal critics, Ronan and Dylan Farrow. Employees from the imprints Basic, Orbit, Forever and Hachette Books also walked out.

On Thursday, staff members announced they were walking out of the Hachette New York offices in protest of Allen’s autobiography, scheduled to publish April 7. A Times staff member who had emailed the Hachette imprint received an autoreply informing her of the walkout with the message: “We stand with Ronan and Dylan Farrow and survivors of sexual assault.”

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From the NY York Post:

The employees headed to the company’s Human Resources offices on Sixth Avenue in Midtown to complain at 3 p.m., a source said.

Hachette’s CEO, Michael Pietsch, tried to hold a town hall, but was rebuffed.

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After the protest, book agent Lynn Nesbitt, who brokered the rights for “Catch and Kill,” told The Post: “Hachette has also dealt a huge blow to the Little, Brown team who have worked tirelessly to make Catch and Kill a success.”

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From Variety:

Around 75 employees of multiple Hachette imprints took to New York’s Rockefeller Plaza to support journalist Ronan Farrow, who just cut ties with the publisher after discovering that Hachette, which published his book “Catch and Kill,” was releasing his estranged father’s memoir as well. Farrow has stood by his sister Dylan, who has accused her adoptive father Allen of sexually abusing her as a child. Allen has repeatedly denied the allegations and has never been charged with a crime.

On Monday, Hachette outlet Grand Central Publishing announced that it would release Allen’s book, “Apropos of Nothing,” on April 7. Farrow condemned Hachette chief executive Michael Pietsch for working on Allen’s book while editing “Catch and Kill.”

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From The NY Times:

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From The Independent

Dylan Farrow has thanked staff at publishers Hachette and Little Brown for staging a walk-out protest after it was announced they would publish the memoir of Woody Allen – her adoptive father who she has accused of sexually assaulting her as a child.

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After news of the protests became publicised, Farrow tweeted out her thanks to the staff.

“Unbelievably overwhelmed and so incredibly grateful for the solidarity demonstrated by @HachetteUS and @littlebrown employees today. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

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See Also: Direct to Twitter Tweet with Statement from Employees

Filed under: News, Publishing, Reports