NYT fires romance columnist Olivia Waite over Bluesky repost on Trump rape allegations
The Times ended Olivia Waite's contract days after she reposted criticism of its coverage of new rape allegations against Trump, saying she was no longer a 'good fit'.
What to know
- The New York Times terminated romance columnist Olivia Waite's contract days after she reposted criticism of the paper's coverage of new rape allegations against Trump.
- The criticism originated with journalist Marisa Kabas, who questioned why a Times story on a House Judiciary Democrats' report omitted the word 'rape' and new allegation details.
- NYT Book Review editor Tina Jordan told Waite her expressed views made her 'no longer a good fit' for the column, without citing a specific social media policy.
- The Times has no public editor since 2017, leaving critics saying there is little accountability for decisions like Healy's coverage answers or Waite's dismissal.
“But it's shocking, appalling, and outrageous to see them dismiss a fiction columnist for sharing someone else's post criticizing coverage of rape allegations against Trump.”
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, Site author · Smart Bitches, Trashy Books ↗ · Nov 2
Olivia Waite NYT romance fiction columnistPatrick Healy NYT assistant managing editor for standards and trust
Marisa Kabas Independent journalist, The HandbasketMark Jacob Journalist, Stop the Presses newsletterTina Jordan Editor, NYT Book Review
Donald Trump President of the United States
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Smart Bitches, Trashy Books details the firing and reacts — The romance-fiction site publishes a full account of the chain of events and condemns the Times for dismissing a fiction columnist over a repost criticizing its political coverage.
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Kabas publicizes Waite's termination on Bluesky
Marisa Kabas posts that she is 'in shock' that the Times fired Waite over the repost of criticism she and Mark Jacob made, linking to a fuller account and statement from Waite.
“Honestly in shock. @nytimes.com terminated the contract of romance fiction columnist Olivia Waite because she reposted on Bluesky criticism I and @markjacob.bsky.social had of the paper's lack of coverage of the new rape allegations against Donald Trump.”
— Marisa Kabas -
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Honestly in shock. @nytimes.com terminated the contract of romance fiction columnist Olivia Waite because she reposted on Bluesky criticism I and @markjacob.bsky.social had of the paper’s lack of coverage of the new rape allegations against Donald Trump. Details and a statement from Olivia here:
2 more of the top 3 · 335 posts in this stretch
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So now they're silencing journalists who are pointing out the weird lack of coverage of the latest rape accusations against the President of the United States. "The New York Times Terminates Contract with Romance Columnist Olivia Waite After Bluesky Repost" A fine way to draw attention to the story https:// smartbitchestrashybooks.com/20…
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Waite: “On the eve of a national midterm election, the Times reached all the way over to the Book Review & parted ways with a writer in the genre that most often presents rape scenes from the perspective of the victim, in stories that insistently end with the victim triumphant, beloved, and happy.”
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Patrick Healy holds Times Insider chat on the coverage — Healy participates in a Times Insider reader chat where writer David Singleton raises the paper's handling of the rape-allegations story, fueling further criticism of the Times' objectivity claims.
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NYT Book Review ends Olivia Waite's column contract — Book Review editor Tina Jordan emails Waite saying her expressed views on the Times mean she is no longer a good fit for the romance column, effectively terminating the contract.
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Jacob and Waite repost criticism of Times' coverage — Journalist Mark Jacob reposts part of Kabas' thread with commentary calling Healy's answer 'unacceptable'; romance columnist Olivia Waite reposts Jacob's post on her own Bluesky feed.
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Kabas presses NYT editor on omission of rape allegations — Independent journalist Marisa Kabas emails Patrick Healy, the Times' assistant managing editor for standards and trust, asking why the paper's story on the House report included neither the new details nor the word 'rape'; Healy's reply draws wide attention online.
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House Judiciary Democrats release report with new Trump rape allegations — A House Judiciary Democrats' report surfaces new details of rape allegations against President Trump, which becomes the basis for subsequent criticism of New York Times coverage.
What people are saying 20 voices from 1 site · best of 336 · verbatim
- Nov 3
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yes, despite the horrors, i maintain the ability to be shocked at unscrupulous behavior—even from known bad actors.
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Anything to keep the myth of “liberal media” alive when in fact they’re 100% fascists.
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Yet another reminder that conservatives are only and exclusively about free speech for me but not for thee.
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The new allegation is news—and is consistent with the already corroborated facts which NYT previously reported in 2025 Newsweek covered it
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When it questions their coverage of Dear Leader, they take action
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The august @nytimes does not like being called out as soft-on-fascism -- so it may not be pleased with my noting that it published a flattering puff piece on Hitler's mountain retreat literally TWO WEEKS before he started WWII.
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They fired the romance columnist for a repost. A repost. She did not write the criticism, she just shared it, and that was enough to make her 'not a good fit.' The paper of record, terrified of a share button.
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you've uncovered something important about the NYT here Marisa. don't let this go. I hope you will keep digging
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not beating the "paper that maintains a database of all their contributors social media activity related to the company" allegations
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they don't think a woman being raped by the president of the United States is newsworthy. they don't think women are full people, just obstacles to a conservative white man's career
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Olivia Waite’s statement is well worth the read. She’s an insightful woman. As is Marisa.
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I really don't think they are afraid of appearing partisan. I think they're 100% on board with fascism.
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Posting cuz the New York Times is watching.
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All of them, Joe Kahn, Patrick Healy, AG Sulzberger Jr are so full of it. They are so scared of appearing partisan that they've over-corrected and are/have been appeasing Trump and the GOP. It's better than being accused of liberal bias I suppose.
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The Times has never had less direct legacy competition after Bezos smashed the Post, and it has responded by becoming almost unbelievably thin-skinned as an institution, full of self-righteous arrogance and hostility to well-earned criticism. Awesome.
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I was a long time freelancer (including writing one of their newsletters for years) for the NYT and had publicly disagreed with their reporting choices before. Nothing happened to me. This is appalling.
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this is some fucked up fuckery right here
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Waite tells @smartbitches.bsky.social that she received an email from Tina Jordan, editor of the Book Review, “saying that Olivia’s clear sentiments about the Times mean that the paper is no longer a good fit for her column.” This was what Waite reposted:
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So they will hold staff accountable after all. Just not for poor journalism.
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Yeah, it’s over for the NYT. Entirely captured. What a disgrace.