After Harassment Scandal, What Happens To Mark Halperin’s Reporting?
Reporters Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, authors of the best-selling campaign books “Game Change” and “Double Down,” were granted heavy-duty access to the Trump campaign for their upcoming book and HBO movie about the 2016 presidential election, Axios reported on Sunday.
“You guys all need to talk to him,” Trump told his inner circle at a dinner early last year, Axios reported.
But following allegations of sexual harassment against Halperin by at least a dozen women, the HBO deal is off and the future of the book is uncertain. Now it’s not clear whether the reporting, which Axios asserts amounts to “the most comprehensive insider account of what happened on the campaign,” will see the light of day.
It’s as yet undecided whether Heilemann will complete the book on his own, according to Axios.
The two journalists told The New York Times last March that the project would focus on “Trump the man,” among other things.
“I think the key is, Trump is a figure of enormous fascination for people the world over,” Heilemann saidat the time. “The one thing we’re not worried about right now is that people will be bored by Donald Trump.”
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO