Writer Yascha Mounk has been suspended from the Atlantic following a rape accusation from writer Celeste Marcus.
Marcus, the managing editor of Liberties, recently published an article that detailed her alleged sexual assault in a piece titled “After Rape: A Guide for the Tormented.” She did not name Mounk in the original piece, published on January 2. On Sunday, Marcus posted an email exchange on X with the Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg and Executive Editor Adrienne LaFrance about her allegation against Mounk.
“Exactly four weeks ago I sent [Goldberg] & [LaFrance] the email below telling them my rapist works at [The Atlantic],” she wrote. “Mr. Goldberg replied that the allegation was taken extremely seriously. I have not gotten a single update since.”
“I will not be raped with impunity,” she added.
In the email dated January 7, Marcus named Mounk, who serves as a contributing writer to the Atlantic:
I’ve just published in Liberties, where I serve as managing editor, an essay about rape which includes a memoir of my own rape. As you will see from the essay my rapist was a writer who works at a magazine. It has been two and a half years since the rape, and I believe it is past time for you to know that the rapist was Yascha Mounk. You have a rapist on the staff on your illustrious publication. He raped me in my apartment after midnight on June 25, 2021. Believe me, this is not a wild or mischievous allegation. I’m not quite sure how I intend to proceed, but I’m telling you and a few reporters who have expressed interest in the story after contacting me in connection with another, very similar case.
Goldberg replied the next day and told Marcus that he and his publication would be “taking this allegation extremely seriously.”
Mounk denied the allegation in a statement to Mediaite: “I am aware of the horrendous allegation against me. It is categorically untrue.”
The Atlantic later released a statement after Marcus unveiled her email exchange on X, describing Mounk as a “freelance contributor,” not an employee.
“We are aware of the allegation concerning a freelance contributor to The Atlantic,” said Atlantic Communications Chief Anna Bross:
We take such allegations seriously. The accused freelance contributor is not an employee of The Atlantic. We have not published any new work by the freelance contributor since being made aware of the allegation and we suspended our relationship with the freelance contributor last month when we first learned of the accusation. We will, of course, be following any potential new developments in this matter.
Marcus later told Mediaite that Goldberg “chose to withhold transparency” about any actions taken against Mounk.
“He chose to withhold transparency about action taken — if any was indeed taken — after my allegation was made,” she said.
“I can hardly overstate how painful that choice was for me. I had prepared myself for the pain an investigation would surely yield, pain which would be mollified by the fact that I would have the opportunity to submit evidence and make my case,” Marcus continued. “I had not prepared myself to be ignored.”
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