The publisher of the New Republic resigned on Friday, four days after he was placed on leave following allegations of misconduct by staffers at the storied liberal magazine.
“I’m writing to inform you that Hamilton Fish has tendered his resignation from TNR effective immediately,” New Republic owner Win McCormack wrote to staff Friday, a spokesperson for the magazine confirmed to TPM.
“This won’t mean an end to the inquiry we’ve commissioned, as we want to understand everyone’s experiences in full, both on their own terms and for the purpose of looking ahead,” he added (read McCormack’s full statement below.)
On Monday, McCormack announced that Fish was taking a leave of absence following employees describing “certain workplace interactions that have created an uncomfortable environment for them,” and “interactions between Ham Fish and a number of women employees.”
Leon Wieseltier, for decades the New Republic’s literary critic, also recently admitted to “offenses” against female colleagues during his time at the magazine. Amid allegations against him, Wieseltier lost an editorship of a planned magazine funded by Laurene Powell Jobs, a businesswoman and the widow of Steve Jobs. Former New Republic staffers had accused him of making inappropriate comments about their appearances and kissing them on the mouth.
Both Wieseltier and Fish were on an anonymously sourced list of “shitty media men,” which described inappropriate behavior, sexual harassment and rape allegations against men in the media industry. The list emerged following revelations that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein had engaged in a decades-long practice of sexually harassing and assaulting women.
Read Win McCormack’s full letter to New Republic staff
Dear all,
I’m writing to inform you that Hamilton Fish has tendered his resignation from TNR effective immediately.
This won’t mean an end to the inquiry we’ve commissioned, as we want to understand everyone’s experiences in full, both on their own terms and for the purpose of looking ahead. If you happen not yet to have received the investigator’s contact details, with our invitation to connect with her, you should expect to today.
I’d like to express my deep appreciation to everyone who has contributed or will. Thank you all, as well, for all the help you can offer in strengthening our institution through the months and years to come, and for every aspect of your support to each other and TNR as a whole during this difficult week.
[New Republic editor J.J. Gould] is working with me now on next steps for our organization. If you have any questions, as I know many of you will, please do reach out to him or to me directly.
Yours truly,
Win
On one hand, this is shocking. On the other hand, having spent my life as a woman, it’s really not shocking at all.
Having spent my life as a man, it’s not shocking at all either.
Try to keep in mind, folks, that most of us aren’t like these fuckers.
so much for the Fish dynasty
Will our society learn from this or will the pseudo-conservatives claim we’re taking away their guns and or their penises? Perhaps both.
They got schooled.