National Post (National Edition)
Editor gone at magazine after Ghomeshi essay
Buruma assigned, championed ex-host’s piece
The editor of the prestigious New York Review of Books, subject of a torrent of outrage after commissioning a controversial personal essay by disgraced former CBC Radio star Jian Ghomeshi, is no longer with the publication.
“I can confirm Ian Buruma is no longer with the magazine,” a Review spokeswoman who declined to give her name said Wednesday afternoon.
The magazine would not say whether Buruma’s departure was voluntary, nor whether it was connected to his publishing and then publicly defending the lengthy essay by Ghomeshi.
Rea Hederman, the magazine’s publisher and owner, was directly involved in the decision, said Review publicist Nicholas During, and the change took effect Wednesday morning.
Neither Buruma, Hederman nor Ghomeshi responded to the National Post’s requests for comment prior to deadline.
The magazine’s top editor, Buruma had assigned and championed the over-2,400word essay by Ghomeshi, published online last Friday. It is scheduled to appear in the Oct. 11 print edition as part of a package of cover stories on “The Fall of Men.”
Late on Wednesday, the magazine added a preface to the online version of Ghomeshi’s essay saying the piece had “provoked much criticism” and “should have included acknowledgment of the serious nature and number of allegations” against its author. “Substantial space will be devoted to letters responding to this article in the next issue,” the preface said.
Ghomeshi wrote in the essay that it was an attempt to “reclaim” his name “and inject nuance into my story.”
He was fired as host of CBC Radio’s flagship radio show in 2014, as allegations of sexual abuse or harassment emerged from what would ultimately be more than 20 women.
In 2016, he was acquitted at trial in Toronto of four counts of sexual assault and one of overcoming resistance by choking based on allegations from three women. He then apologized in court for being “sexually inappropriate” to a fourth woman and signed a peace bond in return for the withdrawal of a final count of sexual assault against him.
There was widespread outrage at the decision to give Ghomeshi such a highprofile platform to start rebuilding his public persona. In particular, one interview with Buruma about his decision seemed to throw gasoline on the fire rather than squelch its fury.
In speaking with Isaac Chotiner of Slate, Buruma characterized Ghomeshi’s actions as “being a jerk” and “(behaving) badly sexually” and displayed little knowledge of the circumstances or extent of the allegations Ghomeshi faced.
“The exact nature of his behaviour — how much consent was involved — I have no idea, nor is it really my concern,” Buruma was quoted as saying.
Buruma also said in the interview he had “ambivalent feelings” about the #MeToo movement, saying it was partly good as a “necessary corrective on male behaviour … but like all well-intentioned and good things, there can be undesirable consequences. I think, in a general climate of denunciation, sometimes things happen and people express views that can be disturbing.”
When Chotiner asked if there were — as has widely been suggested — objections to the piece from members of NYRB staff, Buruma said: “No. We had a proper office discussion and everybody expressed their views and not everybody agreed. But all views were aired and in the end, when the decision was made, the office stuck together.”
On Wednesday the woman to whom Ghomeshi apologized, Kathryn Borel, told the Post she “was bowled over by the thousands of intelligent, concise and fair-minded people who immediately decried the decision to publish such an irresponsible and hurtful piece of writing. The conversation has come a long way. That gives me hope.”
Borel added that she hopes Buruma now understands that “just because Ghomeshi walked out of the courtroom a free man, doesn’t mean he’s an innocent man.”
The New York Review of Books is among the most prestigious intellectual journals in the English language and, despite its name, is devoted to long-form essays exploring literature, arts, current affairs and culture.
Buruma, 66, was appointed editor of the magazine a year ago. It was a hard role for anyone to fill; he replaced Robert B. Silvers, who had recently died. Silvers and the late Barbara Epstein had been the founding editors of the Review in 1963.
An award-winning Dutch writer and historian, Buruma had been a frequent contributor to the magazine since 1985. At the time of his appointment, Hederman expressed confidence that under Buruma “the values and editorial direction of the Review will be upheld.”
The publication’s circulation is 135,000 in print and about 15,000 subscribers online.
“The New York Review can write about anything that it wants to,” said Hederman, in a speech at the University of Missouri. “My role as publisher is to make sure that we keep publishing and we keep investing in independent publications.”