Publisher cancels plans to release Woody Allen memoir
Woody Allen’s publisher has decided to cancel the planned release of his memoir “Apropos of Nothing.”
The announcement Friday by Hachette Book Group followed days of criticism focused on allegations that Allen sexually abused his daughter Dylan Farrow. On Thursday, dozens of Hachette employees staged a walkout.
“The decision to cancel Mr. Allen’s book was a difficult one. At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly,” the publisher announced.
“We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books. As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of views can be heard.”
Allen’s book was scheduled to come out next month.
Allen’s agreement with Hachette meant that he briefly shared a publisher with one of his biggest detractors, his son Ronan Farrow, whose “Catch and Kill” was released last year by the Hachette division Little, Brown and Company.
“Hachette’s publishing of Woody Allen’s memoir is deeply upsetting to me personally and an utter betrayal of my brother whose brave reporting, capitalized on by Hachette, gave voice to numerous survivors of sexual assault by powerful men,” Dylan Farrow said in a statement Monday hours after details of the book were released by The Associated Press.
Ronan Farrow followed up a day later, calling Hachette’s decision “wildly unprofessional.” Both he and his sister complained that the publisher had not reached out to fact check their father’s book.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—How psychedelic drugs may revolutionize mental health care
—The coronavirus is officially claiming its first corporate casualties
—7 reasons you’re not hearing back about your job applications
—Why investors suddenly turned on pot stocks
—WATCH: Dwyane Wade opens up about his business ventures and new documentary
Subscribe to Fortune’s Outbreak newsletter for a daily roundup of stories on the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on global business.