Publisher refuses to cave to demands that Amy Coney Barrett's book be canceled: 'We remain fully committed'



Penguin Random House is refusing to cave to woke demands to cancel a forthcoming book written by Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

What is the background?

Nearly 700 writers, editors, and other workers in the publishing industry have signed an open letter demanding that Penguin Random House not publish Coney Barrett's forthcoming book.

The reason? Coney Barrett, who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, is guilty of an "assault on inalienable human rights," referring to overturning the federal right to an abortion.

This is not just a book that we disagree with, and we are not calling for censorship. Many of us work daily with books we find disagreeable to our personal politics. Rather, this is a case where a corporation has privately funded the destruction of human rights with obscene profits. Coney Barrett is free to say as she wishes, but Penguin Random House must decide whether to fund her position at the expense of human rights in order to inflate its bottom line, or to truly stand behind the values it proudly espouses to hold.

Coney Barrett reportedly received an advance of $2 million from Penguin Random House for her book.

What did PRH say?

Sentinel, an imprint at Penguin Random House that publishes conservative titles, is standing by Coney Barrett's book.

"We remain fully committed to publishing authors who, like Justice Barrett, substantively shape today’s most important conversations," said Sentinel publisher Adrian Zackheim, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Zackheim added that Sentinel "publishes books so that people can read them, and evaluate them on their own. In an intelligent free society we need to disseminate ideas in a robust form so that we can discuss them."

A representative for Penguin Random House confirmed that Zackheim was relaying the sentiment of Penguin Random House.

Coney Barrett's book will likely not see bookshelves until 2024. Politico reported last year the book will be focused on how "judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into how they rule."

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Staff of Canadian publishing company reportedly cry over decision to publish Jordan Peterson's new book



Publishing giant Penguin Random House Canada announced Monday that it would be releasing Toronto professor Dr. Jordan Peterson's latest book next year, a decision that apparently left multiple employees in tears.

What are the details?

Vice's Manisha Krishnan broke the story, reporting that the staff felt their employer — the largest publisher in Canada — "ambushed" them with the news, and managers defended the company's decision during a town hall with the staff.

"Several employees cried at the meeting discussing how Peterson's views have negatively impacted their lives," Krishnan tweeted. "One told me: "He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and the fact that he's an icon of white supremacy... I'm not proud to work for a company that publishes him."

several employees cried at the meeting discussing how Peterson's views have negatively impacted their lives. One to… https://t.co/66D7xdjgi1
— 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐧 (@𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐧)1606252921.0

According to the Washington Examiner:

Peterson is a University of Toronto professor who rose to international prominence as a vocal critic of the Canadian government's Bill C-16, which sought to establish "gender identity or expression" as a prohibited ground of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Peterson objected on the grounds that the law could force him to address a transgender student by his or her preferred pronoun or else be faced with prosecution under human rights laws.

The title of Peterson's new book is "Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life." It is due out in March.

In a statement, Penguin Random House Canada defended its publishing decision, telling Vice:

We announced yesterday that we will publish Jordan Peterson's new book Beyond Order this coming March. Immediately following the announcement, we held a forum and provided a space for our employees to express their views and offer feedback. Our employees have started an anonymous feedback channel, which we fully support. We are open to hearing our employees' feedback and answering all of their questions. We remain committed to publishing a range of voices and viewpoints.

Anything else?

According to Clair Lehmann, founding editor of Quillette, the upset employees might be shooting themselves in the foot with their protest.

In reaction to Vice's story, she tweeted, "Peterson's '12 Rules for Life' has sold over 3million copies. A book like that pays for all of the other books that a publisher takes a risk on, for years. But they want to cancel him. In other words, they want to cancel their own company & their own jobs."