Hachette staff walkout to protest Woody Allen’s memoir

In the US, employees at Grand Central Publishing, Little, Brown and several other Hachette Book Group (HBG) imprints have staged a walkout three days after Grand Central Publishing announced it would publish Woody Allen’s memoir Apropos of Nothing, reports Publishers Weekly.

An email auto-reply from Grand Central Publishing employees reads: ‘This afternoon, Grand Central Publishing employees are walking out of the Hachette New York office in protest of the publication of Woody Allen’s memoir. We stand in solidarity with Ronan Farrow, Dylan Farrow, and survivors of sexual assault.’

Allen has been accused by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow of molesting her when she was seven years old. Following the announcement of the memoir, her brother, Ronan Farrow, cut ties with Little, Brown—who published his bestselling Harvey Weinstein exposé Catch and Kill—via a Twitter post critical of the publisher.

Hachette Australia confirmed to Books+Publishing it is not publishing or distributing Apropos of Nothing.

Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch told the New York Times that HBG stands by Grand Central’s decision to publish Allen’s memoir. ‘We do not allow anyone’s publishing program to interfere with anyone else’s,’ Pietsch said. ‘Grand Central publishing believes strongly that there’s a large audience that wants to hear the story of Woody Allen’s life as told by Woody Allen himself. That’s what they’ve chosen to publish.’

In response to the walkout, a Hachette representative said: ‘We respect and understand the perspective of our employees who have decided to express their concern over the publication of this book. We will engage our staff in a fuller discussion about this at the earliest opportunity.’

Category: International news