A writer has accused a Rolling Stone publisher of homosexual harassment, according to a Friday interview.
Ben Ryan, 39, told Buzzfeed News that publisher Jann Wenner allegedly tried to bribe him for homosexual sex in exchange for a job during a meeting in 2005.
Wenner allegedly asked him for sex at his New York townhouse by making him a drink, which escalated quickly, as the publisher then had “his tongue in my mouth,” Ryan claims. Ryan then declined to go further, saying it was a sort of “I’m not that type of girl” moment. Wenner, who had been publicly gay for 10 years at that point, offered him a writing contract if he would stay.
“I think there was that moment where it’s like time stood still, and you’re imagining how this could be the answer to all my struggles. All I would have to do is this one thing,” Ryan said. “But that’s not me. I would never do that.”
Ryan also disclosed a journal entry he wrote the night of the alleged sexual harassment, which reads, “It was the most pure form of sexual harassment: he pawed and groped and I insisted no, but he persisted promising me a ’25 article contract’ in the most disingenuous voice. ‘Preferential treatment.’ I was forced to kiss him. His mouth was dry and he was a serpent-like kisser, lashing with his tongue.”
Wenner responded to Ryan’s sexual harassment allegations in a statement to Variety, writing, “I met Ben 12 years ago, and I attempted to have a sexual liaison with him. He turned me down, which I respected. I had no intention of making him feel uncomfortable. His piece was subsequently published in any case; no work was promised and no work was lost. I have never and would never make an offer of this kind.”
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