After rumors about it began appearing on social media, it was published online last Friday, causing immediate furor, with some criticizing what they saw as a self-pitying tone, and soft pedaling of the accusations against him, which included slapping and choking, and had ultimately been brought by more than 20 women, rather than “several,” as Mr. Ghomeshi wrote.
In an interview last week with Isaac Chotiner of Slate, which was posted not long after the piece, Mr. Buruma, who was named top editor of The New York Review of Books in 2017, defended his decision to publish Mr. Ghomeshi’s piece, noting that while “not everyone agreed,” once the decision was made the staff “stuck together.”
In his interview with Slate, when pressed by Mr. Chotiner about the several accusations of sexual assault against Mr. Ghomeshi, Mr. Buruma said: “I’m no judge of the rights and wrongs of every allegation. How can I be?” He also noted that Mr. Ghomeshi had been acquitted and said there was no proof he committed a crime, adding, “The exact nature of his behavior — how much consent was involved — I have no idea, nor is it really my concern.”
[Want more Canadian coverage in your inbox? Subscribe to our weekly Canada Letter newsletter.]
Mr. Buruma, who was born in Netherlands, took over at The New York Review of Books just after Labor Day last year, following the death of its longtime editor, Robert Silvers, who founded the magazine in 1963 with Barbara Epstein. Mr. Buruma, had contributed to the magazine as a writer since 1985, and he was close to Mr. Silvers and Ms. Epstein.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/arts/ian-buruma-out-jian-ghomeshi.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.