Author cancels graduation speech amid harassment allegations
Posted Mar 1, 2018 06:15:41 PM.
Last Updated Mar 1, 2018 07:00:43 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Recent accusations of sexual harassment against children’s author Daniel Handler apparently have cost him the role of commencement speaker at Wesleyan University.
Students and alumni had protested Handler’s selection, and the private school in Connecticut announced his withdrawal as speaker Thursday.
He will be replaced by Anita Hill, who testified in 1991 that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. She’s now a professor at Brandeis University and already was scheduled to receive an honorary degree at Wesleyan’s May graduation ceremony.
Handler is known for writing the series of novels, “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” He was accused this month of making sexual comments at professional conferences and public events in recent years. He later apologized and said he never meant to insult his colleagues.
