Re: URGENT: BuzzFeed News inquiry re allegations of sexual harassment

Dear Dr. Krauss,

Thank=you for your responses, which state that the allegations made against you are false and/or distorted.

That does raise a =uestion:

Why do you think that multiple women, over more than a deca=e, have separately made accusations against you?

Sincerely,

Peter Aldhous

This as a very loaded and factually incorrect question. As should=be clear, half of the items you list are third party accusations (and the =wo of these having factual content have also been shown to be factually in=orrect) were just as likely to been initiated by men as women. Moreo=er, if you are trying to suggest a trend there is nothing of the sort here=(and as it happens, removing the two where the evidence of falsification i= unambiguous means the span of time of your alleged items then becomes 2 y=ars). These are some unrelated and very different items from a few p=ople, ranging from the false third party claims about actions involving un=nown individuals, to what at best seems to have been a misunderstanding re=arding language at my last University which was chosen to be dealt with me=ely informally because of the nature of the complaint. There is no c=ncerted history or trend here of sexual harassment, over any extended peri=d, either professionally, or privately.

As to why some people might make false accusations against me, I suspec= it may be obvious: I am a high profile male atheist scientist who h=s made statements that are deemed provocative or controversial, and has de=ended sometimes unpopular causes and/or individuals. Moreover there =re a number of groups within the atheist community who openly seek to impu=n the integrity of well known male atheists, and others who, when they hea= these claims, naturally, and perhaps even innocently, tend to interpret w=atever they may witness in that light. I think there is reasonable =vidence, which you may already be aware of, that the false items you liste= are likely to have that origin. I began to see false claims about m= online in a wide variety of contexts a as my public profile raised, begin=ing perhaps a decade ago with the online claim that Stephen Hawking and I =ad an orgy on a Caribbean island. It is common knowledge that celebr=ty attracts all forms of negative attention from many different angles...A0 There is no pattern of discontent revealed here that suggests any other=explanation. The motivation is likely similar to that which drives =ome to decide in advance that there must be a conspiracy by professional o=ganizations to protect these people and then to seek out, cherry pick, and=if necessary distort, any claims that might then support that prejud=ce. That is not the way to assess evidence and test hypotheses.

A better question is why Buzzfeed continues to try imp=y that complaints that have been found baseless by professional institutio=s are of sufficient seriousness to consider publishing as news. It i= demeaning for everyone. I just returned tonight from a bookstore si=ning in Prescott Arizona, where my spirits were raised when I saw over 100=people in a small town come to a bookstore on a cold evening, excited to a=k questions and learn about the universe. It find nothing more exhil=rating than having the privilege (and it is a privilege I take=quite seriously) to excite and inspire people with my words and my writing=to celebrate the universe in which we live, and I relish the opportunity t= show respect for them and their interests when I meet with them in signin=s, lectures, or when they ask for photos with me. I try to raise peo=le up, and not demean them, which is why I find the false allegations you =ave suggested to be so repugnant. You don't know me at all, =rid yet you seem to have systematically gone about trying to find reasons t= portray me as a person I am not.

if he doesnt publish today. I wond=r whether you should nt get out in front and post your repsonses on your f=cebook and twitter. if you stress that false accusations=are made against you for. ...... then when t=e next group of gilrs that read the news come forward you will have alread= given your view :?? not without risk , 4)=A0 the only risk that i see having it appear if there is a cha=ce that buzzfeed wont publish