Hundreds of Negative Hillary Clinton Book Reviews Go Missing on Amazon

Hillary Clinton Signs Copies Of Her New Book "What Happened" In NYC

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It looks like Amazon just deleted hundreds of suspicious reviews of Hillary Clinton’s book, “What Happened,” after several news reports and the book’s publisher questioned their authenticity.

Clinton’s book about how she lost the election, which hit bookstores Tuesday, received mixed reviews, with 50 percent one-star and 45 percent five-star reviews.

But a closer examination by Quartz suggests the a large chunk of the reviews were likely from “a concerted attack to bring down the average reviews on her page.”

Also Read: 'Morning Joe': Hillary Clinton's Book Is 'Not Helping the Democratic Party' (Video)

Just hours later, Quartz reported that Amazon had apparently deleted more than 900 reviews of the book.

Of the book’s 1,699 reviews as of Wednesday morning only 338 were from users who actually bought the book on Amazon.com, according to Quartz’s report, suggesting many of the reviews were posted by people who never read the book.

The almost dead split between verified and unverified purchases in the reviews for Clinton’s book also raised some red flags, as it was outside the norm compared to the top-10 bestselling books so far this year on Amazon. The unusually high number of unverified reviews was also suspicious, according to ReviewMeta, an independent site that helps customers figure a product’s credibility.

Also Read: Bernie Sanders Jabs at Hillary Clinton Over Memoir Comments: Our Job Is to Go Forward (Video)

A spokesperson for Amazon neither confirmed nor denied the company deleted the reviews, telling TheWrap in a statement: “Amazon Customer Reviews must be reviews related to the product and are designed to help customers make purchase decisions. In the case of a memoir, the subject of the book is the author and their views. It’s not our role to decide what a customer would view as helpful or unhelpful in making their decision. We do however have mechanisms in place to ensure that the voices of many do not drown out the voices of a few and we remove customer reviews that violate our Community Guidelines.”

According to Quartz, “What Happened” got a “big ol’ fail,” with a 3.2-star rating on Amazon before the suspicious reviews were deleted. The number went up once Amazon removed the reviews, and now stands at 4.3 stars.

Also Read: Hillary Clinton Says Bernie Sanders 'Isn't a Democrat' in Scathing New Memoir Excerpt

Simon & Schuster publisher Jonathan Karp told the Associated Press on Wednesday: “It seems highly unlikely that approximately 1,500 people read Hillary Clinton’s book overnight and came to the stark conclusion that it is either brilliant or awful.”

This isn’t the first time Amazon has deleted suspicious book reviews. In November, Amazon seemed to remove some negative reviews of Megyn Kelly’s autobiography, “Settle for More,” after groups of apparent Donald Trump supporters trolled the book online, leaving a boatload of one-star reviews.

And last month, Amy Schumer’s book “The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo” was flooded by one-star reviews despite being No. 2 on Amazon’s list of best-sellers and garnering critical praise.

11 Woman Presidents in Movies and TV Before Hillary Clinton (Photos)

Polly Bergen, "Kisses for My President" (1964)
President Leslie McCloud was a real pioneer -- but the movie's plot focuses on Fred MacMurray as the First Husband struggling to find a purpose while his wife toils in the Oval Office. And to add insult to injury, she resigns when she learns she's pregnant.
Patty Duke, "Hail to the Chief" (1985)
In this short-lived ABC sitcom, Duke played President Julia Mansfield who had to deal with a cheating first husband, a rogue Air Force general and multiple schemes for her impeachment.
ABC
Christina Applegate, "Mafia!" (1998)
In this spoof of "The Godfather Part II," Applegate plays a version of Diane Keaton's Kay Adams-Corleone -- named Diane -- who leaves the Michael-like Mob boss (Jay Mohr) and goes on to become president of the U.S. Sadly, she puts a nuclear disarmament deal on hold to return to her ex.
Geena Davis, "Commander in Chief" (2005-06)
Davis' Mackenzie Allen was a former congresswoman and political independent drafted to be vice president on the ticket of Republican Teddy Bridges, who soon dies of a brain aneurysm.
ABC
Patricia Wettig, "Prison Break" (2006)
Wettig's Caroline Reynolds emerges as one of the chief villains of the Fox series, secretly plotting with the covert Company to execute innocent man Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) for the murder of her brother.
Fox
Cherry Jones, "24" (2008-10)
Jones plays tough-as-nails President Allison Taylor in the seventh and eighth seasons of "24," refusing to buckle to terrorist demands despite the murder of her son and the shooting of her husband.
Fox
Alfre Woodard, "State of Affairs" (2014-15)
Woodard won praise for bringing gravitas to the role of President Constance Payton, but the show centered on Katherine Heigl as a top CIA agent prepping the chief executive's daily briefing. The series lasted just a single season.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep" (2014-16)
Louis-Dreyfus' Selina Meyer assumes the presidency when the former sitting president resigns for personal reasons -- just as she's seeking her party's nomination. But while running as an incumbent, she musters a tie in the electoral college -- and winds up losing the presidency when her own VP bungles his vote in the Senate.
HBO
Andrea Savage, "Veep" (2016 -)
Savage portrays New Mexico Senator Laura Montez, who plays up her Mexican heritage as the running mate of Selina Meyer's chief rival -- and then emerges as the president after a tie in the electoral college and deadlocks in the House and Senate.
HBO
Sela Ward, "Independence Day: Resurgence" (2016)
In the original, Bill Pullman's president was an ex-fighter pilot who went back into the cockpit to fight alien invaders. In the long-after-the-fact sequel, Ward's President Elizabeth Lanford has a significantly smaller role in repelling the new attack.
Sony
Lynda Carter, "Supergirl" (2016 - )
The former "Wonder Woman" star rejoins the DC Comics universe on the second season of "Supergirl" as President Olivia Marsdin -- an effective leader who is secretly non-human.
The CW