Rumpus Essays Editor Roxane Gay recently posted about the troubling situation at the Oxford American in which Mark Smirnoff, the founding editor of the Oxford American, and managing editor Carol Ann Fitzgerald were fired amidst hushed circumstances, linking to Smirnoff’s deeply personal and detailed account of his ouster.
Yesterday The New York Times ran a piece that details sexual harassment allegations as the reason for Smirnoff’s termination by publisher Warwick Sabin and the board of directors, portraying another side to this sad story regarding a beloved magazine.
2 responses
Mark Smirnoff sounds like an absolutely insufferable person to work for. The New York Times article is framed with Mr. Smirnoff’s own words and admissions, which all seem to be perfectly reasonable reasons for his termination. He can rationalize his behavior all he’d like, but the bully and tyrant shine right on through. Too bad his despicable behavior has sullied the name of a great magazine.
The true story will come out in time. Two people were fired by Smirnoff and they retaliated against him. That much is clear. Innocent till proven guilty. Accusations are very easy to make and lots of people have been fired based on phony sexual harassment charges. Lots of power-hungry people have taken over companies. Warwick Sabin sounds like a slimy politician.
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