Hot Lips Davidar is back, but in a different country

by Dennis Johnson

David Davidar with his new parnter, Kapish G Mehra, of Indian publisher Rupa

You may remember the enormous brouhaha that broke out this time last year, when Penguin International publisher David Davidar, just months after being promoted from being head of Penguin Canada, announced he was quitting to write a novel. It was a lie, and it didn’t take long before the truth was revealed: there were at least two well-evidenced accusations of sexual harassment had been filed against him.

Davidar fled to India, where a flood of press at the time — despite the evidence and quoting, often enough, lots of Indian industry sources and writers who had gotten their first break from Davidar — that vilified the women making the charges and perversely turned Davidar into a hero.

And so it continues — Davidar has announced he’s starting a new publishing house of his own, Aleph, in partnership with major Indian publisher Rupa.

The story has gotten major attention in India. But try as you might, in report after report after report — such as this one, headlined “David Davidar returns with a bang” — from leading Indian news sources, you’ll find plenty about what a publishing genius Davidar is, but you won’t find any mention of the words “sexual harassment.”

And you won’t find anyone who’s commented on that, either.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

3 Comments

finnh at 1:45 am on May 19, 2011
”There were at least two well-evidenced accusations of sexual harassment had been filed against him.”
I suppose the argument of David “Never Been Convicted of a Serious Felony” Davidar and his supporters could be that the claims were , as I understand it, settled before they went to court. But still, eerie if the claims are not even being reported. This sort of mixture of blindly patriotic pride and lob-ball coverage is not limted to Indian media, incidentally.
BTW, I like that headline “Davidar back with a Bang” — perhaps at the least the headline writers are getting their dig in. The *content* of that particular article, however, is, ah, very wet firecracker.
finnh at 1:45 am on May 19, 2011
Â ”There were at least two well-evidenced accusations of sexual harassment had been filed against him.”
I suppose the argument of David “Never Been Convicted of a Serious Felony” Davidar and his supporters could be that the claims were , as I understand it, settled before they went to court. But still, eerie if the claims are not even being reported. This sort of mixture of blindly patriotic pride and lob-ball coverage is not limted to Indian media, incidentally.Â
BTW, I like that headline “Davidar back with a Bang” — perhaps at the least the headline writers are getting their dig in. The *content* of that particular article, however, is, ah, very wet firecracker.
Anonymous at 11:21 pm on November 28, 2011
Whoa what do we have here? An obscure publisher, blogger and writer dissing a far more successful one, with no real basis that I can see. How pathetic, methinks there is a green eyed monster in the vicinity!