Faber remains tight-lipped as Moby cancels UK book tour

Faber remains tight-lipped as Moby cancels his UK and Ireland book tour after a row with Natalie Portman over sections of his memoir Then It Fell Apart.

The dance music star had been scheduled to speak at the Hay Festival on 1st June, with further appearances lined-up next week at Evolutionary Arts Hackney (EartH) in London, the Manchester Literature Festival and Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin. 

Faber, which distributed the title in the US, has declined to comment on both the book tour cancellation and the initial controversy. 

A statement on the US musician's website said: “Moby is canceling all upcoming public appearances for the foreseeable future. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. all tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase, and Moby is happy to provide signed bookplates to everyone who bought tickets to these events.”

The book, published by Faber Social earlier this month, has sparked huge controversy over Moby’s claims he had a brief relationship with Portman when she began “flirting” with him after a show. 

Portman denied any relationship took place, telling Harper’s Bazaar: “He said I was 20; I definitely wasn’t. I was a teenager. I had just turned 18. There was no fact checking from him or his publisher—it almost feels deliberate. That he used this story to sell his book was very disturbing to me. It wasn’t the case. There are many factual errors and inventions. I would have liked him or his publisher to reach out to fact check.”

Moby has since issued an apology on Instagram, saying it was “truly inconsiderate” of him not to tell her she would be in the book.

In a new Instagram statement yesterday, entitled “last post”, he apologised again, saying: "I’m going to go away for a while.”

He added: “But before I do I want to apologize again, and to say clearly that all of this has been my own fault. I am the one who released the book without showing it to the people I wrote about. I’m the one who posted defensively and arrogantly. I’m the one who behaved inconsiderately and disrespectfully, both in 2019 and in 1999. There is obviously no one else to blame but me.”