New York Review of Books chief out over #MeToo essay

The editor of The New York Review of Books is out of print.

Ian Buruma lost his lofty position over the magazine’s controversial publication of an essay by a Canadian radio broadcaster accused of beating and sexually assaulting women.

A Review spokesman confirmed Buruma had abruptly left his post, although there was no indication whether he was fired or quit.

Buruma (inset), who took over as editor just after Labor Day 2017, lasted barely a year atop the publication once hailed by Esquire as “the premiere literary-intellectual magazine in the English language.”

The 3,400-word piece by Jian Ghomeshi — attacked by many as a self-serving effort — prompted an immediate anti-Buruma backlash. The editor insisted in an interview with Slate magazine that the Review staff supported the decision to run the essay.

And he brushed aside the serious charges leveled against Ghomeshi.

“I’m no judge of the rights and wrongs of every allegation,” Buruma told Slate. “How can I be?”

Other critics questioned why the Review offered any kind of forum for Ghomeshi to run his “Reflections From a Hashtag.”

Ghomeshi was acquitted in March 2016 of all charges and apologized two months later, acknowledging that he “crossed boundaries inappropriately.”

In the essay, Ghomeshi bemoaned a post-acquittal existence where he is “constantly competing with a villainous version of myself online.”

Ghomeshi was one of Canada’s most revered broadcasters until more than 20 women came forward with allegations that the radio host had slapped, punched, bitten, choked or smothered them. He was acquitted of all charges by a Canadian judge, and avoided a second trial by apologizing to another alleged victim.

Buruma was a Review contributor for more than three decades before ascending to the top spot.