Editor Is Out Amid Uproar Over #MeToo Essay

Ian Buruma

Ian Buruma, the editor of The New York Review of Books, left his position on Wednesday amid an uproar over the magazine’s publication of an essay by former CBC radio broadcaster who had been accused of sexually assaulting women.

“Ian Buruma is no longer the editor of The New York Review of Books,” Nicholas During, a publicist for the magazine, according to The NYTimes citing an email.

The essay’s author, Jian Ghomeshi, who was acquitted of sexual assault charges in 2016, lamented his status as a pariah, “constantly competing with a villainous version of myself online.”

It caused immediate furor, with some criticizing what they saw as a self-pitying tone, and soft pedaling of the accusations, which included slapping and choking, and had come from more than 20 women, rather than “several,” as Mr. Ghomeshi wrote. Mr. Buruma drew further censure by giving an interview that many interpreted as showing a lack of interest in the accusations against Mr. Ghomeshi.

The magazine did not say whether Buruma, 66, told a Dutch magazine that he had felt compelled to resign because of the criticism and because university-affiliated book publishers, The Review’s core advertisers, had been threatening a boycott.

Ghomeshi was acquitted in March 2016 of four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking involving three complainants. In May 2016, he apologized to a fourth complainant and signed a peace bond that saw another count of sexual assault withdrawn.