New York Observer's Newest Hire Left Harper's Magazine After Sexual Harassment Incident
Christian Lorentzen was hired by the New York Observer as senior editor last week. Before that, he was a senior editor at Harper's Magazine. But we hear he lost his last job following a sexual harassment incident.
Lorentzen started working at Harper's in 2006. In recent years, he's also been a fairly prominent freelancer as well as outspoken enemy of hipsters. But his career took a detour in 2009, a source tells us, when Lorentzen suggested to a young female co-worker at Harper's that if she had sex with him, it would be good for her career. The incident didn't stay secret for long, and eventually resulted in the end of Lorentzen's career with the magazine. (He left Harper's in September of 2009.) We also hear his recent hiring by the Observer has severely displeased some staff members who had heard of his reputation in advance.
We asked Christian about the alleged incident and he told us that the story was "false," but refused to discuss the matter in detail. We also asked Harper's Magazine for a statement regarding the alleged incident between Lorentzen and the female co-worker; spokeswoman Kathy Park Price responded: "As any business will tell you, personnel matters are confidential and we aren't able to discuss them or rumors about them."
