Publisher’s Employee Walk Out to Protest Woody Allen Autobiography

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From The New York Times:

Dozens of Hachette Book Group employees left work Thursday afternoon, protesting the company’s decision, which it announced earlier in the week, to publish an autobiography by Woody Allen.

The publisher said on Monday that Mr. Allen’s book, titled “Apropos of Nothing,” would come out under its Grand Central imprint on April 7. It described the book as “a comprehensive account of his life, both personal and professional,” that would cover “his relationship with family, friends and the loves of his life.”

But the announcement drew criticism because of the allegations that Mr. Allen molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. He has denied the accusations and wasn’t charged after two investigations decades ago.

. . . .

An employee at Hachette who participated in the walkout estimated that more than 100 protesters eventually gathered in Rockefeller Plaza, outside the publisher’s New York offices. The employee said that while the protesters were outside, others at Hachette met with Michael Pietsch, the company’s chief executive, to make three demands of him: to cancel the publication of Mr. Allen’s book; to publicly apologize; and to recognize that Hachette employees have the ability to speak up about books they disagree with without fear of reprisal.

. . . .

One of the most vocal critics of the book deal was Mr. Allen’s son and Ms. Farrow’s brother Ronan Farrow, whose best-selling book “Catch and Kill” was published last year by Little, Brown, a Hachette imprint. On Wednesday, he slammed Hachette’s decision to publish Mr. Allen’s book and said he would no longer work with the publisher.

Link to the rest at The New York Times