Yascha Mounk: “Zeit” editor suspends office after rape accusation

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Author Mounk: "The accusation is categorically untrue"

Photo: Maria Laura Antonel / IMAGO

The prominent German-American author and political scientist Yascha Mounk has temporarily suspended his position as co-editor of the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”. A publisher spokeswoman confirmed this to SPIEGEL.

The reason is apparently allegations from a US journalist who accuses Mounk of rape. Celeste Marcus, senior editor of the cultural and political magazine “Liberties,” described the alleged sexual assault in an article for her own paper, initially without naming anyone. She later detailed the allegations in emails and named Mounk as the alleged perpetrator.

Mounk himself vigorously denies rape. »I am aware of the terrible accusation against me. It is categorically untrue," the author told SPIEGEL on Wednesday evening, without going into further detail about the allegations.

Investigations and consequences

The magazine “The Atlantic,” for which Mounk was a regular contributor, has now interrupted its collaboration with him. "Since we learned of the allegations, we have not published any new work by the freelancer and have suspended our relationship with him," the editorial team wrote in a statement.

“The Atlantic” may have felt compelled to react because it had apparently known about the allegations for weeks. Celeste Marcus contacted the magazine's editor-in-chief via email on January 7th.

“You have a rapist among the staff of your illustrious publication,” she wrote at the time. "He raped me in my apartment after midnight on June 25, 2021. Believe me, this is not a wild or malicious allegation." The editor-in-chief expressed his condolences to her in a reply - and promised to take "the accusation very seriously."

According to Marcus, there has been radio silence since then, which is why she published the email exchange online last weekend.

Distortions in “Time”

Mounk also maintains close relationships with an editorial team in Germany. In April last year, the Munich native joined the five-member editorial board of “Zeit”. According to the publisher, the committee consists of "five personalities who represent different professions and perspectives", currently (in addition to Mounk): Jutta Allmendinger, Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, Zanny Minton Beddoes and Florian Illies.

In 2023, the publisher was enthusiastic about the appointment of the German-American intellectual: They were pleased to have gained a “thought leader of international renown,” said Stefan von Holtzbrinck.

“Zeit” now writes to SPIEGEL: “We are aware of the allegations against Yascha Mounk. We reacted to it as soon as it became known and accepted his suggestion that he should suspend his position on the editorial board of “Zeit” until the matter was clarified. We hope this will happen quickly. Mounk denies the allegations against him.”

Mounk succeeded Josef Joffe on the editorial board last year - whose mandate was also ill-fated. He had already put his editorship on hold in 2022. The reason: SPIEGEL reported that Joffe had warned a banker friend of his about the research carried out by his own newspaper in January 2017.