Mark Halperin, a Top Political Journalist, Faces Multiple Claims of Harassment<br />And by Thursday evening, his publisher, Penguin Press, said in a statement<br />that it had canceled plans for the book entirely, “in light of the recent news.”<br />In a statement, Mr. Halperin denied any nonconsensual contact with the women who spoke to CNN,<br />but he apologized for his behavior with his ABC News colleagues.<br />The speed with which Mr. Halperin lost major television<br />and book projects — his account of the 2016 election was among the most anticipated publishing releases of next year — reflected a growing national discussion about the misbehavior of powerful men.<br />Like the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and the Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly — who were both forced from powerful perches this year by harassment scandals — Mr. Halperin was a gatekeeper in his industry, whose favor could mint careers<br />and bring credibility to politicians, both current and aspiring.<br />Under the circumstances, I’m going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation.”<br />Mr. Halperin left ABC News 10 years ago, and a network spokesman said on Thursday that no complaints had been filed about him during his tenure.<br />The show Mr. Halperin and Mr. Heilemann developed for Bloomberg, “With All Due Respect,” was a dishy and sometimes whimsical political talk show<br />that failed to attract a wide viewership; it ended after Mr. Trump’s victory<br />“During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me,” Mr. Halperin said through a spokesman.
