New Republic publisher resigns after harassment allegations

NEW YORK — The publisher of The New Republic, Hamilton Fish, resigned Friday amid allegations of sexual harassment.

In a company memo shared with The Associated Press, magazine owner Win McCormack wrote that Fish’s resignation was effective immediately and that an internal investigation would continue. Fish, who joined The New Republic in 2016, had been placed on leave of absence last week. He is a former publisher of The Nation.

“As I understand it, some employees, to my deep dismay, complained this week that my presence had led them to feel uncomfortable at The New Republic,” Fish wrote to McCormack in a memo Friday that was also shared with the AP. “Women have longstanding and profound concerns with respect to their treatment in the workplace. Many men have a lot to learn in this regard. I know I do, and I hope for and encourage that new direction.”

Fish wrote in an email to the AP that he “felt the controversy swirling around us could cause irreparable harm to the magazine, and that the only way to protect The New Republic and its employees was for me to separate from the organization.” Noting his time with such organizations as The Nation, a prominent liberal publication, and with Human Rights Watch, he wrote that he had spent his career in “in progressive media and the human rights field.

“I’ve worked to recruit women to address gender equity and imbalance in the workplace, and have promoted women to leadership positions in the organizations I have been responsible for,” he wrote. “Though I have not been informed of the nature of the complaints, it has been especially painful for me to learn that some TNR employees have grievances as a result of my actions.”

Fish is among a wave of celebrities and media figures stepping down or being fired since reports in October of alleged harassment and assault by Harvey Weinstein. Others departing include author and former NBC analyst Mark Halperin, former New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier and former NPR chief editor Michael Oreskes, who was an AP executive from 2008 to 2015.