--- title: Author Junot Díaz Denies Sexual Misconduct Allegations description: The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist has denied the allegations from 3 women canonical: https://time.com/5327877/junot-diaz-addresses-sexual-misconduct-allegations/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-02T03:21:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:44:33.815Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Author Junot Díaz Denies Sexual Misconduct Allegations og:description: The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist has denied the allegations from 3 women og:url: https://time.com/5327877/junot-diaz-addresses-sexual-misconduct-allegations/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40a7ba92c853fcfd/6989345cdb29876abf260122/gettyimages-185161921.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2013 Norman Mailer Center Gala og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Author Junot Díaz Denies Sexual Misconduct Allegations twitter:description: The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist has denied the allegations from 3 women twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40a7ba92c853fcfd/6989345cdb29876abf260122/gettyimages-185161921.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Author Junot Díaz Says he Was 'Shocked' by Sexual Misconduct Allegations by [Maureen Lee Lenker / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Maureen Lee Lenker / Entertainment Weekly Jul 2, 2018 3:21 AM CUT  Junot Diaz attends the 2013 Norman Mailer Center gala at the New York Public Library on October 17, 2013 in New York City. Junot Diaz attends the 2013 Norman Mailer Center gala at the New York Public Library on October 17, 2013 in New York City.D Dipasupil—FilmMagic/Getty Images by [Maureen Lee Lenker / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Maureen Lee Lenker / Entertainment Weekly Jul 2, 2018 3:21 AM CUT Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Díaz has vehemently denied allegations of sexual misconduct and misogynistic verbal abuse leveled against him by three women in May. In his first interview since he was accused of inappropriate behavior, Díaz told [_The Boston Globe_](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/30/junot-diaz-case-may-metoo-turning-point/3TMFseenE4Go1eVsqbFSxM/story.html "undefined") he was “shocked” by the allegations. “I was, like, ‘Yo, this doesn’t sound like anything that’s in my life, anything that’s me,’” he said. Díaz also tried to differentiate between his fiction (which often features male characters treating women poorly) and his own life, and between sexual misconduct and consensual relationships gone awry. “There is a line between being a bad boyfriend and having a lot of regret, and predatory behavior,” he said. In early May, [Díaz was accused](http://ew.com/books/2018/05/04/junot-diaz-sexual-misconduct-allegations/ "undefined") of cornering and forcibly kissing writer Zinzi Clemmons when she was a grad student, and of verbally bullying two other fellow writers, Carmen Maria Machado and Monica Byrne. The accusations came in the wake of Díaz’s own revelation [in an essay](http://ew.com/books/2018/04/09/junot-diaz-sexual-abuse-essay/ "undefined") that he had been sexually assaulted as a child. Immediately following the accusations, Díaz [issued a statement](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/books/junot-diaz-accusations.html "undefined") to the _New York Times_ that said, “I take responsibility for my past. That is the reason I made the decision to tell the truth of my rape and its damaging aftermath. This conversation is important and must continue. I am listening to and learning from women’s stories in this essential and overdue cultural movement. We must continue to teach all men about consent and boundaries.” Speaking to the _Globe_, Díaz lamented that statement. “I’ve written a lot of crap in my life,” he said. “One does when one’s a writer. But, definitely, that statement is the worst thing I’ve written, the worst thing I’ve put my name to. Boy, I wish I’d had the presence of mind to rewrite the damn thing.” In response to the allegations, Díaz previously relinquished his role as the chairman of the Pulitzer Pride board and became the subject of separate investigations at MIT and the _The_ _Boston Review_, where he held teaching and editing jobs, respectively. Those investigations have concluded, and Díaz will keep both positions. The author is still the subject of an investigation by the Pulitzer board, of which he is still a member. Reached by the _Globe_, Clemmons, Machado, and Byrne stood by their accounts of Díaz’s behavior. Read the full _Boston Globe_ story [here](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/30/junot-diaz-case-may-metoo-turning-point/3TMFseenE4Go1eVsqbFSxM/story.html "undefined"). _This_ [_article_](http://ew.com/books/2018/07/01/junot-diaz-addresses-sexual-misconduct-allegations-globe-interview/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://ew.com "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5327877/junot-diaz-addresses-sexual-misconduct-allegations/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5327877/junot-diaz-addresses-sexual-misconduct-allegations/"},"headline":"Author Junot Díaz Says he Was 'Shocked' by Sexual Misconduct Allegations","datePublished":"2018-07-02T03:21:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:44:33.815Z","description":"The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist has denied the allegations from 3 women","url":"https://time.com/5327877/junot-diaz-addresses-sexual-misconduct-allegations/","keywords":["Books","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40a7ba92c853fcfd/6989345cdb29876abf260122/gettyimages-185161921.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maureen Lee Lenker / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40a7ba92c853fcfd/6989345cdb29876abf260122/gettyimages-185161921.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2013 Norman Mailer Center Gala","caption":"2013 Norman Mailer Center Gala","creditText":"D Dipasupil—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5327877/junot-diaz-addresses-sexual-misconduct-allegations/","name":"Author Junot Díaz Says he Was 'Shocked' by Sexual Misconduct Allegations"}}]}] ```