Mark Halperin’s longtime writing partner John Heilemann said in an interview published Tuesday that he was “flabbergasted and shocked” after several women came forward last week to accuse Halperin of sexual misconduct.
“The bare nature of the accusations are horrific and shocking and terrible,” Heilemann told the New York Times. “I was flabbergasted and shocked.”
HBO last week said it was “no longer proceeding with the project tied to the untitled book co-authored by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann on the 2016 Presidential election.” A day later, Penguin Press canceled plans to publish the book under the “Game Change” umbrella. Halperin and Heilemann published two previous “Game Change” books that became best sellers.
Heilemann said he “had never heard of, been exposed to or had any inkling of the notion” that Halperin “had engaged in any behavior that could be described in even the broadest sense of being sexual harassment or sexual assault.”
Several women anonymously spoke to CNN and the Daily Beast last week to accuse Halperin of inappropriate behavior. Some of the women accused Halperin of rubbing his genitals against them while clothed. Emily Miller, a conservative reporter, said Halperin “sexually assaulted” her while they both worked at ABC News.
Another woman said Halperin “started lunging” at her during a meeting in her office and backed her “into a corner” before she “opened the door and ran out.”
Heilemann told the New York Times that he “barely knew Mark in the period of time when he stands accused of doing these things.”
“These behaviors are not the behaviors that I witnessed, and they’re not consistent with the person that I thought I knew. That’s not an excuse. That’s just the truth,” he said. “People are entitled to their opinions about what I should have known, or must have known, or whatever. But the timeline is what the timeline is.”
Heilemann said Halperin called him last week to tell him that CNN was about to publish a story on the allegations, and apologized during their brief conversation.
“I hope that my reputation has not been damaged by this,” Heilemann said. “I don’t feel like I’m crumpled in the corner in some way.”
