Hachette Workers Protest Woody Allen Book With a Walkout

The publisher’s announcement that it will publish the filmmaker’s memoir has drawn criticism, this time from its own employees. [ Update: On Friday, Hachette Book Group dropped its plans to publish the memoir, after an employee protest and a wave of criticism. ] Dozens of Hachette Book Group employees left work Thursday afternoon, protesting the company’s decision, which it announced earlier in the week, to publish an autobiography by Woody Allen. The publisher said on Monday that Mr.

Allen’s book, titled “Apropos of Nothing,” would come out under its Grand Central imprint on April 7. It described the book as “a comprehensive account of his life, both personal and professional,” that would cover “his relationship with family, friends and the loves of his life. ” But the announcement drew criticism because of the allegations that Mr. Allen molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.

He has denied the accusations and wasn’t charged after two investigations decades ago. A Hachette spokeswoman said in an email Thursday evening: “We respect and understand the perspective of our employees who have decided to express their concern over the publication of this book. We will engage our staff in a fuller discussion about this at the earliest opportunity. ” An employee at Hachette who participated in the walkout estimated that more than 100 protesters eventually gathered in Rockefeller Plaza, outside the publisher’s New York offices.

The employee said that while the protesters were outside, others at Hachette met with Michael Pietsch, the company’s chief executive, to make three demands of him: to cancel the publication of Mr. Allen’s book; to publicly apologize; and to recognize that Hachette employees have the ability to speak up about books they disagree with without fear of reprisal. Juliana Horbachevsky, an assistant director of publicity at Hachette, could not be reached for comment Thursday, but an email automatically sent in response from her account included this statement: “This afternoon, the staff of Little, Brown and Company will be walking out of the Hachette New York offices in protest of Woody Allen’s forthcoming memoir.

“We stand with Ronan and Dylan Farrow and survivors of sexual assault.”