New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush has been suspended amidst allegations that he has acted inappropriately towards women.
Vox reported on Monday that several young women are accusing Thrush of leveraging his position of power in journalism to make unwanted sexual advances. In light of the reporting, NYT chose to suspend Thrush.
“The behavior attributed to Glenn in this Vox story is very concerning and not in keeping with the standards and values of The New York Times,” Eileen Murphy, the senior vice president of communications for the New York Times, said in a statement. “We intend to fully investigate and while we do, Glenn will be suspended. We support his decision to enter a substance abuse program. In the meantime, we will not be commenting further.”
The author of the piece, Laura McGann, worked with Thrush at Politico. She wrote that she once shared drinks with Thrush and several other colleagues until she and Thrush were left along together. Thrush allegedly blocked her from leaving the booth she was sitting in, put his hand on her thigh, and kissed her. She resisted his advances, and McGann believes she was treated differently in the workplace after Thrush told his male friends an altered version of what happened in the booth.
“In the course of reporting this story, I was told by a male reporter who’d worked at Politico at the time that my instinct was right,” she writes. “He said that the day after that night at the bar, Thrush told him about the incident, except with the roles reversed. I had come onto him, the reporter said Thrush told him, and he had gently shut it down.”
Another woman says that during a drunken night at a Politico going-away party, Thrush somehow ended up at her place.
“I remember stopping him at one point and saying, ‘Wait, you’re married,'” she said, recalling that Thrush left almost immediately at that statement. “I remember that by the time he left, I didn’t have much clothes on.”
A young journalist also says she was alone with Thrush at a bar and the two left together to go to a different bar. Thrush kept trying to grab her hand and eventually led her down a dimly-lit path and kissed her.
“I’m drunk,” she texted to a friend. “I’m nervous about this Glenn situation.”
The young woman ordered an Uber but Thrush followed her and kissed her again, causing her to cry. When Thrush saw her tears, she says he waved his hand flippantly and left.
Bianca Padró Ocasio, a 23-year-old journalist, confronted Thrush over text about the incident, telling him she wanted to make sure “you don’t lure young women aspiring journalists into those situations ever again.”
He responded to Ocasio that he didn’t “lure anybody ever.”
“The June incident [described above] was a life-changing event [for me]. The woman involved was upset by my actions and for that I am deeply sorry,” Thrush said in a statement.
“Over the past several years, I have responded to a succession of personal and health crises by drinking heavily. During that period, I have done things that I am ashamed of, actions that have brought great hurt to my family and friends. I have not taken a drink since June 15, 2017, have resumed counseling and will soon begin out-patient treatment for alcoholism. I am working hard to repair the damage I have done,” he stated.
