Allegation won’t halt Netflix series

NEW YORK — A planned second season of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix will be unaffected by the recent allegations of sexual misconduct against author Jay Asher.

Netflix said in a statement Tuesday that Asher was uninvolved in the new season, which is scheduled to air this year. The streaming network says the new season “not be impacted.”

Asher’s bestseller from 2007 about a suicidal teenager is the basis for the Netflix show. On Monday, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators told the Associated Press that Asher was kicked out of the organizations because of complaints about harassment.

Lin Oliver, executive director of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, said Asher had violated the society’s harassment code. He was banned last year, but the news only came to light with the rise of the #MeToo movement.

Asher and prize-winning illustrator David Diaz, who was also kicked out of the organization, were mentioned frequently in a recent comment thread on School Library Journal about harassment in children’s publishing.

“Both Jay Asher and David Diaz were found to have violated the SCBWI code of conduct in regard to harassment,” Oliver wrote in an email. “Claims against them were investigated and, as a result, they are no longer members and neither will be appearing at any SCBWI events in the future.”

Thirteen Reasons Why was Asher’s first book. The 2007 novel about a high school student’s suicide, adapted last year into a Netflix series, has attracted attention for its explicit content, including assault and harassment.