Jonah Lehrer Quits Over Fake Dylan Quotes
Jonah Lehrer, a staff writer for The New Yorker, resigned hours after Tablet Magazine published an article revealing that he had fabricated Bob Dylan quotes in a recent book.
“This was a lie spoken in a moment of panic,” Lehrer, 27, said in a statement Monday announcing his resignation.
Three weeks ago Michael Moynihan, author of the Tablet article, first pressed Lehrer about quotes attributed to Dylan in Lehrer’s book “Imagine.” Lehrer, a neuroscience and psychology writer, initially claimed he had obtained certain quotes after gaining access to material provided by Dylan’s manager, Jeff Rosen.
On Sunday, according to Moynihan, Lehrer admitted that he had never made contact with Rosen.
“When Mr. Moynihan followed up, I continued to lie and say things I should not have said,” Lehrer said before apologizing to readers and editors.
The scandal comes six weeks after Lehrer was accused of “self-plagiarism” for recycling material from a Wall Street Journal article in his debut post for The New Yorker’s The Frontal Cortex blog.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
