Hundreds attend PEN gala
PEN America held one of New York’s first major indoor literary gatherings since the pandemic began last year. Hundreds met Tuesday night for the organization’s annual gala to honor writers, community servants, political dissidents and such prominent public figures as Walt Disney executive chair Robert A. Iger.
After a virtual ceremony in 2020, attendees met at the gala’s longtime venue — the American Museum of Natural History, under the giant model blue whale. PEN, the literary and human rights organization, required everyone to present proof of vaccination and proof of a negative test within 72 hours of the event. Once inside, they were asked to wear masks when not actively eating or drinking for a night that included a cocktail reception and a sit-down dinner.
A November literary tradition, the National Book Awards ceremony, will be held online for a second straight year because of the virus. But PEN President Ayad Akhtar, the author and playwright, called the gala a kind of civic duty. He told the audience that after 18 months of Zoom screens, a live meeting of writers and other artists, and the gradual reopening of the PEN offices, might inspire others to move forward.
According to PEN, 500 people came to the gala, hundreds less than in recent years. But the organization still raised more than $3 million, PEN Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Nossel announced, a record for the event. Attendees included Min Jin Lee, Claudia Rankine and Walter Isaacson and a few special presenters.
Lin-manuel Miranda introduced Iger by praising Disney’s handling of the film version of “Hamilton” and his “willingness to bring artists to the table” and honor their voices. The author and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., recipient of the Pen/audible Literary Service Award, was introduced by two old friends: Jodie Foster, who studied under him when she was attending Yale University, and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian author-playwright who praised him for his efforts to illuminate the past for Black people worldwide.
Hosted by the actorrapper Awkafina, the PEN gala was a defense of freedom of expression and a warning against the spread of lies.
Three imprisoned Iranian writer-activists, Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi, received the Pen/barbey Freedom to Write Award, their prize accepted for them by playwright Lynn Nottage. She read a letter from the three dissidents thanking PEN and saying their thoughts were with the many others persecuted in Iran and beyond.
—Associated Press
Diplo denies sexual misconduct claims
EDM artist Diplo has denied allegations of sexual misconduct that could result in criminal charges brought by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
In a statement provided Wednesday to the Los Angeles Times, Diplo’s attorney accused a woman, who claims she was sexually assaulted by the DJ and producer, of launching “an unceasing campaign of harassment against” the musician, whose legal name is Thomas Wesley Pentz.
According to Buzzfeed News, a 25-year-old woman filed a complaint with the Los Angeles Police Department in October 2020 accusing Pentz of recording and distributing sexually explicit videos without her consent, as well as knowingly infecting her with chlamydia.
The city attorney’s office said this week that, following a police investigation into the woman’s allegations, it is considering charging the “Electricity” hit-maker with invasion of privacy and intentionally giving someone a sexually transmitted infection. —Los Angeles Times
City seeks return of Pharrell’s festival
Virginia Beach leaders want Pharrell Williams to bring his popular Something in the Water festival back next year, but the musician is reluctant, saying a toxic energy has run the city for too long and he wishes the city took a more proactive stance after a police officer fatally shot his cousin.
City leaders appealed to the Grammy-winning producer to restore the festival in 2022. In 2019, the festival brought $24 million to the local Hampton Roads economy. But Williams, who lived there as a child, wrote that he held the festival to ease racial tension, and feels the city isn’t valuing his ideas for promoting “human rights for all.”
Williams’ cousin, Donovon Lynch, was killed in March during a chaotic night in which 10 people were shot during separate incidents. Lynch’s father filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit in June. In its response, the city said Lynch, who was Black, pointed a gun at the officer who shot him. The officer, identified as Solomon D. Simmons III, who also is Black, “feared for his life and the lives of other officers and citizens in the vicinity,” the city said. —Associated Press