HBO on Thursday announced that it will not move forward with a project connected to prominent political journalist Mark Halperin’s co-authored book on the 2016 election, as another woman came forward to accuse Halperin of sexual misconduct.
“HBO is no longer proceeding with the project tied to the untitled book co-authored by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann on the 2016 Presidential election,” the network told CNN in a statement. “HBO has no tolerance for sexual harassment within the company or its productions.”
Five women on Wednesday told CNN that Halperin sexually harassed them while he was working at ABC News. Three of those women accused Halperin of pressing his genitals against them without consent.
Emily Miller, a conservative reporter, tweeted “#MeToo” of the allegations against Halperin.
#MeToo https://t.co/J4R5sj9wfG
— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) October 26, 2017
I did not report Halperin to ABC because I thought I was the only one, and I blamed myself, and I was embarrassed and I was scared of him.
— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) October 26, 2017
Another unnamed journalist told the Daily Beast on Thursday that Halperin made unwanted advances to her while she worked at ABC News years ago.
The journalist told the Daily Beast that Halperin would give her the “occasional lecherous grin” and eventually invited her to his office where she expected to have a professional meeting.
“I was about to sit down to begin the meeting, and he closed the door, and all of the sudden was standing right in front of me—so close he was basically touching me,” the journalist told the Daily Beast. “He started lunging at me and I had nowhere to go. I told him something like, ‘Don’t do that,’ and said ‘I’m not comfortable with the door closed,’ but he had backed me into a corner. I opened the door and ran out.”
She said Halperin was “shameless” about the incident.
“It felt like it was normal for him,” the journalist told the Daily Beast. “You got the sense that it was like he’d get what he wanted if he tried enough.”
This is bad news—for Mark Halperin.
Apologies if that’s been said here like 11 times already. But if it hasn’t been then someone should just get it over with and I figured I’d go ahead and take care of it.
I really don’t understand the love for Mark Halperin among the Washington insiders. I’ve always thought him overrated, substantially.
I find his personal views often color his reporting, much to its detriment. I suppose it’s fine if his job is to editorialize, but if he’s supposed to inform the viewer objectively based on his experience and access, he leaves much to be desired. I also find many of his comments unprofessional for someone in his position.
Not Breaking News: The guy who called President Obama a dick is a dick.
I wish they could procede without Halperin. Game Change on the 2012 election was great.
So obviously the women around him knew. How many of the men knew? (And yeah, the dropping like a hot potato is to avoid having to pay out large sums. In a way, it’s Adam Smith’s invisible hand, or the libertarian wisdom of the market…)