woody allen

Was wondering whether there are other cases of someone leaving a publishing house because it published their rival/enemy.

They've backed down

BREAKING: In a statement, Hachette Book Group has announced that it will not publish Woody Allen’s memoir 'A Propos of Nothing, originally scheduled for sale in April 2020, and will return all rights to the author. Our story is forthcoming.

— Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) March 6, 2020

Little, Brown editors staged a walkout out over it I saw on Twitter

interview w/ one of the employees who walked out:

https://slate.com/culture/2020/03/woody-allen-memoir-hachette-little-brown-walkout.html

Obviously Hachette’s behavior is unethical. That’s why it was hidden like the shameful little deal it was. But it’s also very stupid! One reason: there is more reporting (not from Ronan) coming on Woody Allen. Hachette is aware of this. https://t.co/7Vy238BtNF

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) March 5, 2020

Do you see any value in publishing the book?

I do not. Perhaps [ Allen ] still has fans, but I don’t think any of that matters in the slightest considering the things he’s been accused of doing.

perhaps

Little, Brown editors staged a walkout out over it I saw on Twitter

also three posts above itt tbf

matters in the slightest considering the things he’s been accused of doing

yikes

also three posts above itt tbf

oh wait no, derp

😎

Wooooow I didn't realize that the deal was done ages ago and the PHYSICAL BOOKS are probably already printed and *in a warehouse* somewhere and are now going to have to be scrapped. I worked at Hachette for 10 years and I worked on some projects with levels of secrecy (Twilight related, mostly), and this whole thing had to involve A LOT OF PEOPLE from the publisher down to the pressmen. Fucking a.

I've always enjoyed "pulping" as a term of art

It's just so amazingly...STUPID. How do all the people who need to approve something like this make a mistake of this magnitude and not realize it's a moral and PR NIGHTMARE?

oh they realized that's why they kept it secret

they must've been like "this sucks and we'll take flack for it but maybe we'll make lots of money anyway!"

Yes, the secrecy PROVES THE POINT!! It's incredible. I haven't worked there for a while so idk what's going on but I can only imagine that a LOT of pressure must have been applied somewhere to overcome the better judgement of at least some of the top level staff who would have needed to be in on this.

countdown to Jeffrey Wells 'Khmer Rouge wokester' post in 5 4 3 2 1

fwiw i understand the PR necessities

i remain agnostic on Allen's guilt and am a fan of his work, but if there is new evidence i'll listen (don't at me)

and here it is as predicted

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2020/03/victory-for-obstinate-wokester-bullies/

also io, can u get me a job at h4ch3tte?

They weren't too happy with me when I left there and that was like 7+ years ago, so I doubt it. :(((((

an Associate Vice President or three is about to be fired so you might find an opening xp

im not that seniorish

i actually applied online for a job there last month *crickets*

I am undecided about all of this. It would have been better to have knowledge about what's in the book before judging the deal, but I also understand why that's not possible. He may have admitted to some things in the book, or, more likely, he may have lied about his past to further his career.

I thought his writings in the New Yorker in the early 2000s were garbage.

he may have lied about his past to further his career.

How do you further your career at 84, when none of your remaining films will be released in America?

Didn't read any 21st century pieces, but his first two collections of humor pieces are good (c 1968-73), as is the later story "The Kugelmass Episode."

also none of this week's brouhaha has to do with what might/could be in the book. nuthin'.

he probably wanted the advance so he could provide for his daughter wife

"The Kugelmass Episode" is a masterpiece. I read it in a short story anthology in the early '90s.

whah ha ha, my sides xp

srsly he's a creep, but they've been married for 23 years

23 years of . . . really something

plus 5 years before marriage

I've not seen many of his C21st films, but went to Midnight In Paris with a longtime friend who, like me, had once been a bigger fan. Half an hour in I turned to her and whispered "omg did you know this was a Kugelmass Episode riff?" and she nodded gleefully

buyable in the US

https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781951627348/apropos-of-nothing/

When Woody is now basically claiming Mia Farrow molested Ronan, I feel fine calling him a pedophile rapist forever from here on.

Never Believe Men

A guy I know interviewed the woman who picked up the book.

“It was really about freedom of speech,” Seaver told JI. “The idea that a corporation or a powerful, wonderful publishing house would simply drop a world-known, great artist because they don’t agree with whatever. It just was unacceptable to me.”

'great artist'... Can't be beastly to the great artists, no? We need to here their unfounded accusations that their ex-girlfriend molested their kid. Think of the artists!

In his book, does Woody Allen explain how he has been unable to direct an even halfway decent movie for a quarter century now? Because if he does, then I'll give it a read.

Those awful censorious publishers who won't publish my short story collection are violating the First Amendment!

It's so insane that this was supposed to come out with the publisher that publishes Ronan Farrow. The book claims his mother molested him! Insinuating that he must have been fucked up by that. Aaaaand Ronan was supposed to stay silent over that, because of 'free speech'? It's perverse.

Journalists have an incredibly blinkered, bothsides-ist idea of "free speech". You say something - someone else says something 100% opposed to it - everyone has free speech! Yay!

Never Believe Men

― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, March 24, 2020 12:41 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

we're through the looking glass here people

xp wait, what would a none "bothsides-ist" idea of free speech be?

youre reading my intent correctly i'm sure xp

planning to rewatch Zelig this week

I'm really not watching any Woody Allen now. But also after reading the Moses Farrow article last year I think I'll give Mia a miss too.
There are plenty of other films to watch and other books to read.

yeah, it's not like these are the first allegations against mia. the whole situation is sordid and confusing. better not to get involved

yeah I find people who express certainty about what happened in that family truly baffling

The thing is that one daughter claims Woody molested her, and nothing happens, we just don't know enough, separate art and artists.

Then one son says Mia was bad too, and she's dropped immediately, just can't stand it, the whole thing is too sordid to contemplate.

The hypocrisy and sexism is just so massive.

Nobody has been dropped, not Woody, not Mia. Neither will be in financial trouble from this, whether they deserve to be or not. People make personal choices about what art to consume and support. What more should be reasonably expected?