Little, Brown to publish Ronan Farrow book despite legal threats

Little, Brown says it will publish Ronan Farrow’s forthcoming book Catch and Kill as planned this month, despite legal threats from ex-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.

Farrow’s book follows a year-long investigation into sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that sparked the Me Too movement. It promises to “tell in full, for the first time, how far private investigators, former spies, high-priced lawyers and embattled executives went to terrorise, intimidate and silence the women whose stories helped launch an international conversation on sexual misconduct and the abuse of power.” The book is due to be published by Fleet in the UK, in tandem with its US counterpart, on October 15.

But Howard has claimed he is defamed in the book and has hired British legal firm Tweed Law to represent him. The firm has contacted the book’s publisher and several online retailers telling them to remove “potential defamatory content”, according to the Daily Beast. Howard has also hired law firms in New York and Australia, the site claimed.

Tweed Law told The Bookseller in a statement: “I would confirm that a British publisher and online distributors have been put on notice in relation to defamatory allegations that our client has been given reason to believe will be published in a forthcoming book.  Our client is therefore entitled to seek the protection of the libel laws applicable in the UK and Irish jurisdictions. 

“It is for the publishers and the distributors to satisfy themselves as to the truth of what they publish and our client has made his position absolutely clear and will not be deterred from the facts by the leaking of correspondence to the media.”

A spokesman for Little, Brown said: “Little, Brown Book Group will be publishing Catch and Kill on 15th October as planned and has no further comment”.