Woody Allen's Memoir Cancelled After Book Publisher Employees Stage Walkout

'Apropos of Nothing' will no longer arrive on April 7

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Mar 6, 2020

The release of Woody Allen's upcoming memoir Apropos of Nothing has been cancelled one day after the employees of Hachette Book Group staged a walkout in protest of the book.

The autobiography was set to be released on April 7 via Hachette, but that will no longer be the case.

"The decision to cancel Mr. Allen's book was a difficult one," the company said in a statement. "At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously and do not cancel books lightly. We have published and will continue to publish many challenging books."

Hachette continued: "As publishers, we make sure every day in our work that different voices and conflicting points of view can be heard. Also, as a company, we are committed to offering a stimulating, supportive and open work environment for all our staff. Over the past few days, HBG leadership had extensive conversations with our staff and others. After listening, we came to the conclusion that moving forward with publication would not be feasible for HBG."

The Woody Allen memoir was only just announced on Monday (March 2), with Hachette's Grand Central Publishing initially set to handle the release.

The decision for the publisher to sever ties with Allen comes as the director faces increased scrutiny in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The filmmaker has been facing decades-old allegations of sexual abuse from his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, with many previous companies and collaborators now distancing themselves from the controversial figure.

 

Latest Coverage