The former Observer columnist Nick Cohen, who attacked me numerous times during the pandemic for being a lockdown sceptic, has left the newspaper with a financial settlement following complaints of sexual harassment that spanned a period of 17 years. When he departed, he was praised by his bosses for his “incisive” and “brilliant” journalist – such as this piece entitled ‘It is only a matter of time before we turn on the unvaccinated’ – with no mention of the seven women who claimed they were harassed by him both inside and outside the workplace. Guardian News and Media (GNM), which owns the Observer and the Guardian, has now been accused of a cover-up by the New York Times. The Telegraph has more.
Some of his alleged victims have accused GNM of failing to act on complaints they made to managers over a period of years.
For his part, Mr. Cohen has claimed that his downfall was the result of a bitter internal row over transgender rights that has opened a schism at the centre of The Guardian.
The fallout from the Cohen affair has also prompted recriminations at the Financial Times (FT), where an investigation by a prominent journalist into the goings-on at the Guardian was spiked by the business newspaper’s editor.
The claim has been made by the New York Times (NYT), which reported that Madison Marriage, an FT journalist, had investigated the Cohen affair and had on the record interviews with two named women and documentary evidence on others, but Roula Khalaf, the FT’s editor, chose not to publish it.
Sources told the NYT that Ms Khalaf said Mr. Cohen did not have a high enough profile in the business world to make him a story for the publication.
Both newspapers now risk allegations of hypocrisy after holding powerful men to account in their reporting of the MeToo movement.
The Guardian exposed allegations of sexual misconduct by Tim Westwood, a former radio DJ, in a joint investigation with BBC Three last year, and Ms Marriage won an award in 2018 for exposing the behaviour of the wealthy elite at men-only charity dinners known as The Presidents Club.
According to the NYT, which has spoken to several of the women allegedly targeted by Mr Cohen, The Guardian was less proactive when it came to investigating complaints against its own employees.
Lucy Siegle, a former Guardian journalist, told the NYT that she had made a complaint about Mr Cohen in 2018 for “groping her in the newsroom” in about 2001.
The NYT said Mr Cohen had grabbed her bottom, and that five other women had described similar encounters happening in pubs between 2008 and 2015. A seventh said that Mr Cohen had repeatedly offered to send her explicit photographs in 2018.
The NYT said Mr Cohen’s reputation was “widely known in the newsroom”, to the extent that some of his female colleagues used a different entrance to a pub near the office “to avoid being groped by him”.
Worth reading in full.
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Why not simply ban all clothes, phones, accessories, shoes, food, drinks associated with the petro-chemical industry in any way? Okay, there will be a fair few chilly, hungry and thirsty people but they won’t be associating themselves with The Evil Capitalists!
Incidentally, the ban should include the musicians instruments, all wind and solar power since anything that, in any way whatsoever, is associated with Fossil Fuels is The Great Evil of the day. I somehow think the Eco Warriors won’t be quite so keen to lose their gadgets in order to Save The World.
Obviously they also must be able to prove they walked all the way to the venue and did not walk on any tarmac, brick or paving.
The world’s gone batsh*t f*in crazy. Looking forward to my deathbed to get some peace from the asylum.
Not yet Lemming. Do not go quietly…
How does the upvote work on this one? An agreement that the world’s lost the plot, or an agreement that a Lemming funeral would be rather good? Surprised I haven’t had more up-votes! Even the usual double-act have let me down!
Uptick for the first sentence not the last.
Be careful what you wish for.
.
“True gent”
In the name of ‘cultural appropriation’ ban anyone from elsewhere from wearing any western clothing. Native dress only for our foreign visitors. No denim jeans for them. Saris only for our Indian female residents. No Nike trainers for our African residents. Only Kimonos for our Japanese visitors.
To take it to its absurd conclusion, no western inventions can be used either. No electricity, no TV, no computers.
We must never ever use chopsticks for eating Chinese food, nor must we ever again use the numeric system originally derived by Arab scholars.
Drop all English words derived from other languages, including words influenced by the Vikings, the Romans, the Normans, the Neanderthals and the proto-hominids…
Loopy thinking.
Offense isn’t given, it’s taken.
my thoughts exactly, its the Lefts way of creating constant division and hatred so that they can divide and conquer.
If you’re not Chinese, you shouldn’t be eating Chinese food. Cultural appropriation, don’cha know.
“They include “clothing/garments/items which promote cultural appropriation”.
So, jeans, cowboy boots and stetsons all banned. Each item specifically developed for the cowboy / rancher lifestyle.
Hmm. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
What happens if somebody turns up and is denied entrance on the grounds they are wearing a proscribed item yet there is no list of what is and is not proscribed and for and by whom?
Could an English man, or girl wear an Akubra hat or a Davey Crockett “coonskin” hat – oh that could be fun…
What’s that on your head?
‘A coon.’
Completely unenforceable and would doubtless infringe on yuman rights.
Other than causing trouble, upset, division and mindless aggravation what is this intended to achieve?
Obviously the sensible approach is to avoid marxist festivals or blatantly defy the vague guidelines and turn up ready for aggro.
if we take it to its conclusion will they ban black women who have straight hair extensions and blonde hair?, will they ban middle eastern women from wearing anything but the Hijab? will indian women be made to wear Saris?
What about the food supplied? will the ethnically British be only allowed to cook and eat Roast Beef and Fish and chips? meanwhile each race only allowed to eat and cook culturally appropriate dishes? What about the Trans men who puport to be women, will they be refused entrance because they have appropriated womens clothing?
Or is it as I suspect that the White ethnicity people will be the target of re education and bullying?
A fine example of how to create hatred and division between people by forcing them into the vituous lefts defined boxes of which you must fit and comply and if you refuse they will destroy you.
Potatoes came from the Americas, didn’t they? Chips are out.
What the hell is ‘cultural appropriation’?
I dont understand
What if one was mixed race?
How would you be expected to dress?
Say you were half Scottish and half Dutch would turning up to said festival painted blue wearing just clogs be appropriate?
So meaningful
I presume the Festival will also be banning the “cultural appropriation” of eating foreign foods.
So the Indian, Thai, Chinese, Jamaican, American etc food outlets must be restricted to customers with those origins.
For the Brits, it’s fish n chips, bangers and mash, pies or pasties. And none to be served to those who are obviously not ethnic Brits.
Does this include men dressed as women?