Junot Díaz has categorically denied kissing the novelist Zinzi Clemmons in his first interview since he was publicly accused of inappropriate behaviour by three women.
Clemmons confronted the Pulitzer prize-winning author at the Sydney Writers festival in May, speaking from the audience during a panel discussion, later tweeting that she had invited Díaz to speak at a workshop when she was “an unknown wide-eyed 26-year-old, and he used it as an opportunity to corner and forcibly kiss me”. Clemmons’s accusation was followed by allegations from fellow writers Carmen Maria Machado and Monica Byrne, who both said that Díaz had been verbally aggressive towards them.
In a statement in May, the Dominican American writer said “I take responsibility for my past”, and that “we must continue to teach all men about consent and boundaries”.
But speaking to the Boston Globe from the offices of his PR firm, in his first interview since the accusations came to light, Díaz denied kissing Clemmons.
“I did not forcibly kiss Zinzi Clemmons. I did not kiss Zinzi Clemmons. It didn’t happen,” he said.
Díaz told the Globe that he didn’t deny the kiss when Clemmons first accused him because “I didn’t feel like anyone would listen to me. I felt like people had already moved on to the punishment phase.” He also distanced himself from his initial statement, saying: “That statement is the worst thing I’ve written, the worst thing I’ve put my name to. Boy, I wish I’d had the presence of mind to rewrite the damn thing.”
He said: “There is a line between being a bad boyfriend and having a lot of regret, and predatory behaviour … I was, like, ‘Yo, this doesn’t sound like anything that’s in my life, anything that’s me.’”
Clemmons and Byrne both criticised the interview, which was headlined: “Junot Díaz case may be a #MeToo turning point.”
Clemmons said that Díaz’s denial of her account was “a demonstrable falsehood” and that the article was “a complete sham”.
“I have absolutely nothing to hide, but I’ve refrained from releasing details publicly bc of legal issues and the fact that it is currently being investigated. I will tell my story when I feel the conditions are right & I won’t be used in the way the @BostonGlobe reporters did,” she tweeted. “I chose not to give a full account to [the reporter] because she was extremely aggressive and had clearly sided with Díaz by the time I spoke to her. I have been in a state of shock ever since I made the mistake of calling her.”
Byrne tweeted: “Why would we be doing this if we weren’t telling the truth. Why. We have nothing to gain and everything to lose. I’d rather be doing anything else.”
Following the accusations, Díaz stepped down as Pulitzer prize chairman. A recent investigation conducted by MIT cleared him to continue teaching there, while the Boston Review announced in June that it would be retaining him as its fiction editor after investigating the situation and finding no “larger pattern of abusing power”. The Boston Review’s decision prompted three poetry editors to resign in protest.
