HarperCollins Will Stop Selling Monica Crowley's Book After Plagiarism Accusations

By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg 

HarperCollins Publishers is withdrawing Monica Crowley's book "What the (Bleep) Just Happened?" following allegations of plagiarism first raised by CNN.

In a brief statement issued Tuesday, HarperCollins said the title will no longer be available for sale "until such time as the author has the opportunity to source and revise the material."

President-elect Donald Trump announced he had chosen Ms. Crowley as senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council on Dec. 15.

The plagiarism issue was first reported by CNN in a story that found Ms. Crowley's book contained "upwards of 50 examples of plagiarism from numerous sources, including the copying with minor changes of news articles, other columnists, think tanks, and Wikipedia."

A spokeswoman for HarperCollins declined to say why the publishing house didn't directly address the issue of plagiarism.

Ms. Crowley couldn't be reached for comment, and the incoming Trump administration didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The recall is expected to affect only a small number of paperbacks still in print plus the e-book edition of the work first published in June 2012. In its statement, HarperCollins said the book "has reached the end of its natural sales cycle."

"What the (Bleep) Just Happened?" has sold 23,000 copies in hardcover and paperback, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks 85% of retail book sales in the U.S. excluding digital copies.

Ms. Crowley had previously been a Fox News contributor. A spokeswoman for Fox News said that the network terminated Ms. Crowley's contract when she joined the Trump administration. 21st Century Fox, which owns Fox News, and News Corp, parent company of The Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins, share common ownership.

Shortly after Ms. Crowley was named to the National Security Council post, she resigned as online opinion editor and columnist for the Washington Times, said David Keene, opinion editor for the newspaper.

Ms. Crowley's book was published by Broadside Books, a conservative imprint owned by HarperCollins, and later hit the New York Times best-seller list.

In its catalog copy, HarperCollins described the book as a "savvy critique of the state of our union" under President Barack Obama and that it offers "inspiration and a positive message to conservatives and concerned Americans everywhere that the way to fight back and win is with principle, conviction...and a wicked sense of humor." The paperback edition was updated after President Obama's re-election and published as "What the (Bleep) Just Happened...Again?"

Damian Paletta contributed to this article.

Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 10, 2017 13:58 ET (18:58 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.