Ian Buruma, editor of the New York Review of Books, left his position Wednesday "amid an uproar over the magazine's publication of an essay by a disgraced Canadian radio broadcaster who had been accused of sexually assaulting women," the New York Times reported, adding that Jian Ghomeshi's essay "caused immediate furor, with some criticizing what they saw as a self-pitying tone, and soft pedaling of the accusations, which included slapping and choking, and had come from more than 20 women, rather than 'several,' as Mr. Ghomeshi wrote." Buruma drew further censure by giving an interview to Slate's that many interpreted as showing a lack of interest in the accusations."
While NYRB did not say whether he resigned or was fired, Buruma told Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland he had "felt compelled to resign because of the criticism and because university-affiliated book publishers, The Review's core advertisers, had been threatening a boycott," the Times noted.
Jennifer Crewe, director of the Columbia University Press, told the Times that the "university press community was greatly concerned about the Ghomeshi article and they expressed that concern," but "to my knowledge no one threatened to pull ads."