Mark Halperin is the latest high-profile journalist to face allegations of sexual harassment. | Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images HBO, Penguin cancel ‘Game Change’ over Halperin’s alleged sexual harassment The most lucrative franchise in political journalism appears doomed.

The 2016 edition of “Game Change,” the most lucrative franchise in political journalism, appears doomed as Penguin Press canceled the much-anticipated book and HBO dropped the movie version in response to five women accusing co-writer Mark Halperin of sexual harassment during his time at ABC News.

“HBO is no longer proceeding with the project tied to the untitled book co-authored by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann on the 2016 Presidential election,” the network announced late Thursday afternoon. “HBO has no tolerance for sexual harassment within the company or its productions."


Penguin Press, which announced plans in March to publish Halperin and Heilemann’s 2016-themed book, following the success of their 2008 and 2012 campaign post-mortems, "Game Change" and "Double Down," respectively, later announced its plans to sever ties with Halperin. “In light of the recent news regarding Mark Halperin, the Penguin Press has decided to cancel our plans to publish a book he was co-authoring on the 2016 election,” the statement read.

CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported Wednesday night that women described Halperin as having a “dark side” that ranged from “propositioning employees for sex to kissing and grabbing one's breasts against her will.” Three of the women described “Halperin as, without consent, pressing an erection against their bodies while he was clothed,” Darcy wrote. Halperin denied “grabbing a woman's breasts and pressing his genitals against the three women,” according to the report.

"During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me," Halperin said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday night. "I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I'm going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation."

Morning Media Your guide to the media circus — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group that targeted Fox News’ advertisers after allegations in April against then-host Bill O’Reilly, urged Penguin and HBO on Thursday to sever ties with Halperin. And some female journalists suggested that the allegations against Halperin compromise his ability to write about an election in which gender played a large role and the Republican nominee — and now president — faced allegations of sexual harassment and boasted on an infamous “Access Hollywood” outtake about sexual assault.

“Mark Halperin, now accused of harassment, covered campaigns in which gender was a raging, painful, burning question,” tweeted Jodi Kantor, a New York Times investigative reporter who recently broke open the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal. “Very few narrators had the power that Mark Halperin did to shape the political discourse — which was often specifically about gender,” she added.

Halperin’s own comments about Trump’s alleged misdeeds have gotten a second life following a report of his own. The Washington Post noted Thursday how Halperin largely dismissed a May 2016 report in The New York Times in which a former beauty pageant promoter alleged that Trump groped her at dinner in the 1990s.

“If that's the best they got on these issues and Donald Trump, Donald Trump should be celebrating that story,” Halperin said at the time, adding that while “there's some troubling things in the piece,” there was “nothing illegal.” He said reports of “boorish or politically correct” behavior could be politically beneficial to Trump because that’s part of his brand and appeal.

There is suspicion and concern inside ABC News that more women will come forward with claims about Halperin’s tenure at the network, which ended in 2007. “This was an open secret when I was at @ABC for years- brave of these women to speak up,” Clarissa Ward, now a correspondent with CNN, tweeted.

During a Thursday morning editorial call, ABC News president James Goldston addressed the CNN report and reiterated to staff that the conduct alleged in the piece is not company policy and reminded staffers they could use an anonymous tip line to report violations, according to network sources. “We know we do our best work in an environment where people feel respected, safe and supported,” he later wrote in a staff memo. “Harassment or retaliation of any kind is never acceptable.”

Halperin, who created the must-read insider tipsheet, “The Note,” while at ABC News, left the network in 2007 for Time magazine. He and Heilemann partnered on the 2010 book "Game Change," which later became an HBO miniseries with Julianne Moore playing 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. The pair reportedly netted a $5 million advance to write the 2013 book "Double Down," which chronicled the previous year’s election. He and Heilemann headed to Bloomberg in 2014 to start a new political venture and were reportedly paid $1 million apiece. They also co-hosted a Showtime program, "The Circus," during the 2016 race.

“We find the story and the allegations very troubling,” an MSNBC spokesperson said Thursday. “Mark Halperin is leaving his role as a contributor until the questions around his past conduct are fully understood.”

Halperin is the latest high-profile journalist to face allegations of sexual harassment since dozens of women came forward with claims of sexual misconduct, and even rape, against disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Leon Wieseltier, the famed New Republic editor who was to launch a now-shuttered journal this month, admitted Tuesday to past “misdeeds” with female colleagues. Wieseltier was one of more than 70 men accused of greatly varying levels of harassment on a list of unverified allegations called “Shitty Media Men.” Halperin was not on that list, nor was Vox editorial director Lockhart Steele, who was fired last week amid sexual harassment allegations.

