Fwd: 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 question:

Why do you think that multiple women, over more than a decade, 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 two of these having factual content have also been shown to be factually incorrect) were just as likely to been initiated by men as women. Moreover, 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 is unambiguous means the span of time of your alleged items then becomes 2 years). These are some unrelated and very different items from a few people, ranging from the false third party claims about actions involving unknown individuals, to what at best seems to have been a misunderstanding regarding language at my last University which was chosen to be dealt with merely informally because of the nature of the complaint. There is no concerted history or trend here of sexual harassment, over any extended period, either professionally, or privately.

As to why some people might make false accusations against me, I suspect it may be obvious: I am a high profile male atheist scientist who has made statements that are deemed provocative or controversial, and has

defended sometimes unpopular causes and/or individuals. Moreover there are a number of groups within the atheist community who openly seek to impugn the integrity of well known male atheists, and others who, when they hear these claims, naturally, and perhaps even innocently, tend to interpret whatever they may witness in that light. I think there is reasonable evidence, which you may already be aware of, that the false items you listed are likely to have that origin. I began to see false claims about me online in a wide variety of contexts a as my public profile raised, beginning perhaps a decade ago with the online claim that Stephen Hawking and I had an orgy on a Caribbean island. It is common knowledge that celebrity attracts all forms of negative attention from many different angles. There is no pattern of discontent revealed here that suggests any other explanation. The motivation is likely similar to that which drives some to decide in advance that there must be a conspiracy by professional organizations to protect these people and then to seek out, cherry pick, and if necessary distort, any claims that might then support that prejudice. That is not the way to assess evidence and test hypotheses.

A better question is why Buzzfeed continues to try imply that complaints that have been found baseless by professional institutions are of sufficient seriousness to consider publishing as news. It is demeaning for everyone. I just returned tonight from a bookstore signing 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 ask questions and learn about the universe. It find nothing more exhilarating 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 to show respect for them and their interests when I meet with them in signings, lectures, or when they ask for photos with me. I try to raise people up, and not demean them, which is why I find the false allegations you have suggested to be so repugnant. You don't know me at all, and yet you seem to have systematically gone about trying to find reasons to portray me as a person I am not.

Thanks for these thoughts, which we are considering in detail. We will not publish today. We will be in touch.

FYI

Lawrence M. Krauss Director, The Origins Project at ASU Foundation Professor School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics Department Arizona State University, . Box 871404,Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 Research Office: 480.965.6378, Assistant (Jessica): 480.965.9825 Origins Office Cynthia): 480.965.0053

origins.asu.edu | krauss.faculty.asu.edu

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Peter Aldhous <
Date: December 12, 2017 at 10:02:26 AM MST
To: Lawrence Krauss <
Subject: Re: URGENT: BuzzFeed News inquiry re allegations of sexual harassment

Thanks for these thoughts, which we are considering in detail. We will not publish today. We will be in touch.

On 12/12/17 12:31 AM, Lawrence Krauss wrote:

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 two of these having factual content have also been shown to be factually incorrect) were just as likely to been initiated by men as women. Moreover, 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 is unambiguous means the span of time of your alleged items then becomes 2 years). These are some unrelated and very different items from a few people, ranging from the false third party claims about actions involving unknown individuals, to what at best seems to have been a misunderstanding regarding language at my last University which was chosen to be dealt with merely informally because of the nature of the complaint. There is no concerted history or trend here of sexual harassment, over any extended period, either professionally, or privately.

As to why some people might make false accusations against me, I suspect it may be obvious: I am a high profile male atheist scientist who has made statements that are deemed provocative or controversial, and has

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defended sometimes unpopular causes and/or individuals. Moreover there are a number of groups within the atheist community who openly seek to impugn the integrity of well known male atheists, and others who, when they hear these claims, naturally, and perhaps even innocently, tend to interpret whatever they may witness in that light. I think there is reasonable evidence, which you may already be aware of, that the false items you listed are likely to have that origin. I began to see false claims about me online in a wide variety of contexts a as my public profile raised, beginning perhaps a decade ago with the online claim that Stephen Hawking and I had an orgy on a Caribbean island. It is common knowledge that celebrity attracts all forms of negative attention from many different angles. There is no pattern of discontent revealed here that suggests any other explanation. The motivation is likely similar to that which drives some to decide in advance that there must be a conspiracy by professional organizations to protect these people and then to seek out, cherry pick, and if necessary distort, any claims that might then support that prejudice. That is not the way to assess evidence and test hypotheses.

A better question is why Buzzfeed continues to try imply that complaints that have been found baseless by professional institutions are of sufficient seriousness to consider publishing as news. It is demeaning for everyone. I just returned tonight from a bookstore signing 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 ask questions and learn about the universe. It find nothing more exhilarating 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 to show respect for them and their interests when I meet with them in signings, lectures, or when they ask for photos with me. I try to raise people up, and not demean them, which is why I find the false allegations you have suggested to be so repugnant. You don't know me at all, and yet you seem to have systematically gone about trying to find reasons to portray me as a person I am not.

On Dec 11, 2017, at 2:00 PM, Peter Aldhous > wrote:

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 question:

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

Sincerely,

Peter Aldhous

Lawrence M. Krauss Director, The Origins Project at ASU Co-Director, Cosmology Initiative

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Foundation Professor

School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics Department Arizona State University,M. Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 Research Office: 480.965.6378 Assistant (Jessica): 480.965.9825 Origins Office (Cynthia): 480.965.0053

origins.asu.edu | krauss.faculty.asu.edu

Peter Aldhous, PhD Science reporter | BuzzFeed News tel: 415 800 3471 cell: 415 503 7323 @paldhous

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