The Atlantic “suspended” its relationship with longtime contributor Yascha Mounk on Monday following an accusation by writer Celeste Marcus that he raped her in 2021.
“We are aware of the allegation concerning a freelance contributor to The Atlantic. We take such allegations seriously,” communications chief Anna Bross said in a statement to media. “The accused freelance contributor is not an employee of The Atlantic. We have not published any new work by the freelance contributor since being made aware of the allegation and we suspended our relationship with the freelance contributor last month when we first learned of the accusation. We will, of course, be following any potential new developments in this matter.”
Mounk has denied the accusations, saying in a statement of his own, “I am aware of the horrendous allegation against me. It is categorically untrue.”
In an essay published Jan. 2 titled “After Rape: A Guide for the Tormented,” Marcus wrote about being raped by “a man who claimed he loved his victim,” who subsequently denied that he had raped her. She did not name Mounk in that essay, but on Feb. 4, she publicly named him on X, the social media site formerly called Twitter.
“Exactly four weeks ago I sent [The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg] and [executive editor Adrienne LaFrance] the email below telling them my rapist works at The Atlantic. Mr. Goldberg replied that the allegation was taken extremely seriously. I have not gotten a single update since. I will not be raped with impunity,” she wrote.
The post contained a screenshot of her email, which named Mounk directly.
“I’ve just published in Liberties, where I serve as managing editor, an essay about rape which includes a memoir of my own rape. As you will see from the essay, my rapist was a writer who works at a magazine. It has been two-and-a-half years since the rape, and I believe it is past time for you to know that the rapist was Yascha Mounk,” Marcus wrote in her email to Goldberg and LaFrance.
“You have a rapist on the staff on your illustrious publication. He raped me in my apartment after midnight on June 25, 2021. Believe me, this is not a wild or mischievous allegation. I’m not quite sure how I intend to proceed, but I’m telling you and a few reporters who have expressed interest in the story after contacting me in connection with another, very similar case,” the email concluded.
Mounk, a German-born political scientist and naturalized American citizen, is an associate professor of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University. He is cofounder of the right-leaning centrist publication Persuasion, which is hosted on Substack.
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