Rape and molestation accused biographer Blake Bailey, set to publish his memoir

on Jul 28, 2022

The author of a biography of Philip Roth, which was dropped by its original editor last year after allegations of him raping several women and grooming his former middle school students for sexual encounters when they were older, is preparing to publish a memoir as a cautionary tale against the so-called “cancel culture”.

Blake Bailey's latest work is set to be printed by the controversial Skyhorse Publishing, which picked up his Roth book and an earlier memoir after WW Norton withdrew it and promised to donate to sex abuse organizations which would been the same amount paid as an advance to the biographer.

Publishing giant Simon and Schuster has inked a deal to distribute Skyhorse titles, including a book by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as well as a memoir by Donald Trump's ally Roger Stone, who later received a pardon from the former president accused of Federal officials investigating Russian interference during the 2016 election.

Eve Crawford Peyton, who publicly accused Bailey of raping her as an adult after she was a student at Lusher Middle School, New Orleans in the 1990s, said on Wednesday that it was "disappointing but not surprising" that his ex-teacher was writing memoirs in which he portrayed himself as a victim of “cancel culture”.

"I have told my story, I have told the truth and I have no further comment," Peyton said in a statement. Bailey, speaking through an attorney, previously admitted to exhibiting "deplorable" behavior but denied breaking the law.

Bailey's 900-page volume about Roth made the New York Times bestseller list in Spring 2021. Some critics praised the book, while others criticized the biographer for being too sympathetic of the history of his subject's mistreatment of women throughout his literary career.

Among those who found Bailey, 59, too lenient of Roth's misogyny were several of his former students at Lusher, who spoke about their encounters with him because they found it traumatic to see him gain recognition after his earlier biographies on John Cheever and Richard Yates were published.

Several former students who were taught by Bailey in the eighth grade during the 1990s said he stayed in touch with them for years and presented himself as a life and career mentor. They gave public interviews to local and national media about unwanted sexual experiences with him in their early adulthood, with Peyton describing how he raped her. Her reports prompted a publishing executive named Valentina Rice to go public with her allegations that Bailey raped her in 2015 while the two were spending the night at the home of a New York Times book critic.

WW Norton then permanently removed Roth's biography and a 2014 memoir of Bailey, and guaranteed a six-figure donation to organizations against sex abuse. Within weeks, Skyhorse announced plans to republish Bailey's Roth book, even after Bailey faced further allegations of abuse and harassment at Old Dominion University in Virginia, where he last taught as a visiting professor.

A law firm hired by Old Dominion investigated these allegations and released a 92-page report which concluded that Bailey had sexually assaulted and molested at least two women at the university. According to the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, administration officials were aware of the incidents but did not hold him responsible for the same.

If Skyhorse's publicity is to be believed, Bailey's memoir, an e-book titled Repellent, portrays Bailey as a victim of "ominous forces" intent on writing him and Roth off as "fallible human beings."The book promises a self-reflection from Bailey on his "misguided behavior" while purporting to reflect "on the extent to which writers' personal lives should influence perceptions of their work".

Website lithub.com was first to report on Repellent on Tuesday, which is slated for an April 2023 release date, "extremely consistently," the site wrote in its article on Repellent.