Multiple Women Accuse Author Lemony Snicket Of Sexual Harassment
Image by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Famous children’s author Daniel Handler, who writes under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, has been publicly accused by several women of making lewd and inappropriate comments at their expense.
The Pacific Standard published a long and in-depth piece Thursday featuring interviews with several of the women who have made these claims. One woman, a children’s author, said that after making Handler’s acquaintance at a children’s book festival in Rhode Island, he shouted “Are you a virgin, too?” at her in a crowded lobby.
Allie Jane Bruce, a children’s librarian, accused Handler of making a joke in front of second-, third- and fourth-graders about how he had only one testicle.
The article repeatedly mentions an instance at the 2014 National Book Awards in which Handler made a racist comment while presenting the award for Young Children’s Literature to Jacqueline Woodson, a black author. Handler publicly apologized and donated a significant amount of money to a nonprofit advocating for diverse representation in children’s books in Woodson’s name. But according to those quoted in the article, Handler frequently makes sexist and racist comments toward female authors and authors of color.
Handler recently penned a New York Times op-ed in July in which he advocates for getting teenage boys to read more by giving them books about sex.
Handler is scheduled to give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree this spring at Wesleyan University. Among those slated to receive an honorary degree alongside him? Anita Hill, the woman who accused Clarence Thomas of sexual misconduct in the early 90s.
Handler has responded to the claims in a comment posted to the blog of Gwenda Bond, a children’s author.
“It’s come to my attention, far too late due to my own flaky logistics and lack of an internet life, that a number of women are coming forward to address remarks of mine, at various points in time, that have caused them hurt. It has never been my wish to insult any of my professional colleagues. I sincerely, if tardily, apologize.”
You can find the full statement here.
Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
