[Larry David did not respond to a request for comment.]

July 19, 2022 4:42 PM

Has Alan Dershowitz been canceled? Alan Dershowitz certainly thinks so. The New Yorker's legendary fact checkers, however, are unable to confirm the claims he made in his interview with Isaac Chotiner.

Dershowitz makes a claim about being unwelcome to speak at the Chilmark Library on Martha's Vineyard:

So I’ve been cancelled, basically, by the Chilmark Library. That has resulted in lots of people in Chilmark calling me and calling the library and saying, “We’re being deprived of Alan’s annual speech.” [Ebba Hierta, the Chilmark’s director, disputed Dershowitz’s characterization, and said, “Not one single person has contacted me to complain that they haven’t had a chance to hear Alan speak.”]

What about the Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center?

Then it happened at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, where I was a frequent speaker. Suddenly I’m no longer allowed to speak there.
…
The same thing is true of the Chilmark Community Center. I’ve been on the Vineyard almost fifty years. I would say every single year up until January, 2020, every single year I spoke in multiple venues on the Vineyard, always for free, so this is not about me. Obviously, it’s about the audiences. The audiences are being deprived of my voice as the result of a deliberate cancellation decision. So it’s not me who’s being cancelled. It’s the audiences who are being cancelled. [The Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center said that there has never been any discussion about not allowing Dershowitz to speak. The Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival, which is run by the Chilmark Community Center, said, “We have who we think are the most important writers.”]

At several points Dershowitz repeats the argument, "It’s not even the political point of view. It’s the fact that I dared to defend the Constitution on behalf of Donald Trump."

Dershowitz is the author, most recently, of a book called The Price of Principle: Why Integrity Is Worth the Consequences. And they say irony is dead.

posted by fedward (76 comments total)

man why would you sit down with Isaac Chotiner to do an interview. who thinks they could possibly get the best of that situation
(answer: world-historical narcissists such as Dershowitz)
posted by Countess Elena at 4:59 PM on July 19, 2022 [37 favorites]

I actually think Chotiner went easy on him: he didn't give Dersh nearly as much rope as he could have.
posted by suelac at 5:01 PM on July 19, 2022 [7 favorites]

I'd rather get involved in a land war in Asia than sit down for an interview with Isaac Chotiner.
posted by RakDaddy at 5:02 PM on July 19, 2022 [9 favorites]

If I have to read his whiny bullshit, he's not cancelled enough yet.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 5:16 PM on July 19, 2022 [120 favorites]

I think my favorite bit is how he basically does a "the lurkers are with me via email" defense, claiming with no evidence that he's besieged with phone calls (after being pushed into dialing back his claim that the Chilmark Library was besieged), and then does an "I'm not even mad" flounce:

I want to make it clear it’s not about me. I have a thick skin. It’s about the other people in Chilmark who want to hear my views, people who come here because they love the culture and they love going to the book fair. They love going to the library events, to the community center. Now they can’t hear me at any of those places and see me.

NARRATOR: "It was about him."
posted by fedward at 5:19 PM on July 19, 2022 [36 favorites]

Cry harder, scumbag.
posted by Lyme Drop at 5:20 PM on July 19, 2022 [15 favorites]

They love going to the library events, to the community center. Now they can’t hear me at any of those places and see me.

The second assertion does not follow the first. A lawyer should do better.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:22 PM on July 19, 2022 [10 favorites]

Reminds me of the scene from American beauty: "You're boring, and you're totally ordinary, and you know it."

You haven't been cancelled, no one cares about you anymore. That's probably for the best.
posted by Toddles at 5:23 PM on July 19, 2022 [9 favorites]

Cancellation = not being invited to speak at the Martha’s Vineyard book fair.

By this definition, nearly all of the 8 billion humans on earth have been "canceled".
posted by splitpeasoup at 5:25 PM on July 19, 2022 [48 favorites]

“...I dared to defend the Constitution on behalf of Donald Trump."

Interesting concept of “defend the Constitution” he’s got there, wiping his ass with it.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:28 PM on July 19, 2022 [18 favorites]

I lost it entirely when Chotiner "First they come for the library speeches, and then eventually it’s the Hebrew Center" and Dershowitz just breezed past that, not understanding he is being mocked.

I recently listened to BROKEN: Seeking Justice, a podcast that's a very deep dive into Jeffrey Epstein and his enablers and hangers-on like Dershowitz. It really moved me, particularly for its empowering focus on some of Epstein's victims who've come back as adults to get justice. It also made me realize what a complete piece of shit someone like Dershowitz is. 11 times he rode "the Lolita Express" and was directly accused of having sex with one of Epstein's victims.

Sad the child sex abuse isn't what got Dershowitz cancelled on Martha's Vineyard, I wonder just how many of the island elite set would be in trouble if they took that kind of thing seriously enough.
posted by Nelson at 5:30 PM on July 19, 2022 [38 favorites]

From the article: “(He describes the book as ‘the story of my cancellation.’)”

Wow. Just … wow.
posted by gauche at 5:38 PM on July 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

Every time I accidentally read a word this bloviating pustule erupts, I'm reminded of the masterful Lore Fitzgerald Sjoberg's chef-d'oeuvre, Dating Voltaire.
posted by Mayor West at 5:49 PM on July 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

Also while I am 1000% certain the story is apocryphal, I'm totally happy with Dershowitz indignantly insisting that his uncle who works at Nintendo a totally reputable guy who emailed him was attacked in public for reading a book with Dershowitz on the cover, because the last five years have taught us nothing if not "punching nazis in the face is both ethical and effective" and I'm really enjoying the signal-boost.
posted by Mayor West at 5:53 PM on July 19, 2022 [20 favorites]

My twitter account got locked for saying "millions of people probably want to punch you in the face" in response to that stupid fake tweet about the nerd reading his book getting beat up at the beach
posted by clockzero at 5:55 PM on July 19, 2022 [28 favorites]

Much more interesting than this fascist-enabling power-chasing blowhard, is the New Yorker relentlessly gaslighting and harassing their factchecker Erin Overbey, for pointing out the sexism in their workplace and in their industry.
posted by lalochezia at 6:07 PM on July 19, 2022 [71 favorites]

Worth it.
posted by biogeo at 6:07 PM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Being canceled is perhaps the kindest treatment a child rapist enabler could receive in civil society.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:27 PM on July 19, 2022 [22 favorites]

The book he was reading is called “The Case for Liberalism in an Age of” . . . whatever. I’ll get you the exact title. It was “The Case for Liberalism.” It wasn’t the most recent book.

Granted, he's written a lot of books. But not knowing the title? Huh?
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:29 PM on July 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

He can't say the title, because he'd have to say he "Left the Left", which would undermine the argument he's making about what a lefty he is.
posted by surlyben at 6:35 PM on July 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

I'm continually amazed how incredibly good Isaac Chotiner is at setting up and conducting these interviews that expose his subjects as the absolute choads they are. No one else comes close.

The speeches at the community center, the library and the Hebrew Center, his inability to recall the title of his own book, his "thick skin" and then to tie it all up with Curb Your Enthusiasm — it's all just too good.
posted by ssg at 6:46 PM on July 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

I sit alone in my backyard. There are birds at the feeder.

I approach them, raising my arms and voice, gesticulating to convey the full breadth of my opinions. They scatter to the wind.

I have been cancelled.
posted by mhoye at 6:56 PM on July 19, 2022 [114 favorites]

It’s not even the political point of view. It’s the fact that I dared to defend the Constitution on behalf of Donald Trump.

gelfinCheck rating: Pants on Fire. Dershowitz did not defend the Constitution on behalf of Donald Trump. He defended Donald Trump despite the Constitution.
posted by gelfin at 7:32 PM on July 19, 2022 [12 favorites]

What a piece of shit. He could not be cancelled enough.
posted by latkes at 7:53 PM on July 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

First they come for the library speeches, and then eventually it’s the Hebrew Center. LOL this is funny as shit.
posted by latkes at 7:59 PM on July 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

Hey I didn't expect leopards to eat ANYONE's face when I went all out defending the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party! Sorry some faces got, are getting, and will be getting eaten (many, many more will be getting eaten but let's not talk about that). The thing is, it was the principle of the thing! It was a noble thing on my part! Doesn't everyone get that? Wait, why doesn't anyone want to hear my precious thoughts?
posted by treepour at 8:16 PM on July 19, 2022 [10 favorites]

This guy?

Alan Dershowitz: "I kept my underwear on when getting a massage"

Dude's a rapist. He wants to be a celebrity? I'd suggest he attract the least scrutiny possible. You got away with it so far Alan, why push your luck.

Belongs in a fucking cell.
posted by adept256 at 8:44 PM on July 19, 2022 [11 favorites]

From the article (emph added):

What concerns you so much about the January 6th committee?

First of all, let me put it in context. What I said is, “It’s everybody’s fault.” It was the Republicans’ fault for not allowing a nonpartisan commission. Then it was Pelosi’s fault for keeping the two Republicans that were opposed to the committee off the committee. Then it was the Republicans’ fault for not still putting a few Republicans on the committee. The end result is totally one-sided. Everything that’s testified to is accepted as the gospel truth.

To refresh your memories, one of the those two republicans who were "opposed to the committee" was Jim Jordan who, to be clear, wasn't merely opposed to the committee. He was involved enough in the insurrection that he was subpoenaed by the committee and he's currently fighting that subpoena. So, yeah. I can't tell if Dersh is simply ignorant of the situation, being deliberately disingenuous/dishonest, or just plain stupid. Like, it's not enough that the committee does, in fact, have two Republicans on it; it's somehow illegitimate because it didn't have those 2 specific Republicans on it, one of whom was literally on the phone with Trump on Jan. 6. (FYI, the other was Jim Banks who's been a 2020 election denier but I don't recall if he had any direct involvement with Jan. 6).
posted by mhum at 8:50 PM on July 19, 2022 [15 favorites]

Chotiner is remarkable, and I will probably get off when Dershowitz dies.

…there, I said it. My apologies to all of you, but I had to tell someone and I guess it was you. I am sorry but we gotta do what we gotta do.

Fuck that guy with a nuclear fuel rod. Or cobalt-60; whatever is handy.
posted by aramaic at 9:56 PM on July 19, 2022 [6 favorites]

Much more interesting than this fascist-enabling power-chasing blowhard, is the New Yorker relentlessly gaslighting and harassing their factchecker Erin Overbey, for pointing out the sexism in their workplace and in their industry.

Wow, fuck David Remnick and fuck the New Yorker for this. I'll never give them another dollar.
posted by zymil at 10:15 PM on July 19, 2022 [9 favorites]

You know, now that I think of it, the Chilmark Library didn't invite me to speak there either. How dare those fuckers cancel me
posted by potrzebie at 10:18 PM on July 19, 2022 [9 favorites]

We have a saying here on the Vineyard, native born islanders and washashores alike. It goes like this: Summer people. some are people, some are not.
posted by vrakatar at 10:32 PM on July 19, 2022 [37 favorites]

What took them so long?
posted by theora55 at 10:39 PM on July 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Everyone is the hero of their own story. Everyone else decided to read a different book.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 10:52 PM on July 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

https://leftycartoons.com/2018/08/01/i-have-been-silenced/
posted by Clowder of bats at 11:38 PM on July 19, 2022 [8 favorites]

You know when I am canceled/silenced, I immediately go on national television to complain how nobody invites my sorry ass to the good parties at my exclusive neighborhood anymore! What an injustice that is!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:03 AM on July 20, 2022 [8 favorites]

This Is Just To Say

I have cancelled
Allan Dershowitz
who was on
the Vineyard

and who
you were probably
dying
to hear speak

Forgive me
he's a liar
an asshole
and so choad
posted by chavenet at 1:28 AM on July 20, 2022 [52 favorites]

I don't know enough American politics to comment on what's going on, but that piece is BRUTAL and very funny. Especially this one response from the interviewer:

Sure.
posted by one more day at 1:31 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

You know, now that I think of it, the Chilmark Library didn't invite me to speak there either. How dare those fuckers cancel me

Now now potrzebie, if it makes you feel any better they didn't cancel you. You weren't cancelled by the Chilmark Library. Not at all.

They cancelled me, the audience who wanted to hear you speak ever-so-much. Spare a thought for the poor, cancelled audience, that totally exists, that I am a part of.

You know us. The Chilmark crowd. Minus Larry David.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:38 AM on July 20, 2022 [10 favorites]

Now, if you ask a hundred people to name the five most well-known Jewish Democrats on Martha’s Vineyard . . .

You want me to do that now, or are you saying hypothetically?

*chef's kiss*
posted by Paul Slade at 2:17 AM on July 20, 2022 [21 favorites]

I'm old enough to remember when men like Dershowitz, Giuliani, William Bennett, Oliver North and such were unquestionable Pillars of Conservative Moral Authority. What happened?
posted by acb at 3:17 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

Last night I dreamt that Dershowitz was in front of me in line at some fast food joint (Wendy's?) and instead of ordering he wanted the cashier to record his audiobook reading of Anna Karenina. And when they said no, he threw himself to the ground tantrumming about cancel culture.

Y'all I don't even like Wendy's. 0/10, would not dream again.
posted by basalganglia at 3:26 AM on July 20, 2022 [22 favorites]

"Sir, this is a Wendy's."
posted by briank at 4:43 AM on July 20, 2022 [19 favorites]

What happened?

It was always a lie?
posted by aspersioncast at 4:59 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]

Rhetorical question.
posted by acb at 5:10 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

How many emails from people who were punched and had sand kicked on them for reading one of Alan Dershowitz's stupid books at the beach could Alan Dershowitz receive before Alan Dershowitz began to suspect that the senders were making this up?
posted by box at 5:21 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]

I want to make it clear it’s not about me. I have a thick skin.

This is about a tiny amount of social push back. Strikes me as the thinnest of skins. AFAICT, a library he swans about at cut his lecture series, a correspondent has an apocryphal story of being beaten up and his friend was mean to him in a restaurant.

On the yardstick of what others have faced, and face routinely because of choices that were made for them, abuse that was done to them, who they are, what they look like or who they love, losing a library gig seems pretty small potatoes.

But I don't get this whole cancel culture thing anyway. It's always seemed to me that the bullies are by far the most sensitive to being reminded that being an asshole can have consequences. Freedom of speech in action.
posted by bonehead at 5:50 AM on July 20, 2022 [9 favorites]

It’s about the other people in Chilmark who want to hear my views, people who come here because they love the culture and they love going to the book fair. They love going to the library events, to the community center. Now they can’t hear me at any of those places and see me.

He's supposedly a multi millionaire. A quick google search reveals Mansion House is a few hundred metres from the library. Bet they'd rent either the gym or their roof to a man with such a draw for a reasonable rate.
posted by Mitheral at 6:10 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

But then he'd incur the indignity of paying for the space like any shmoe off the street.
posted by acb at 6:37 AM on July 20, 2022 [7 favorites]

No one plays the victim like a rich white conservative.
posted by zzazazz at 6:37 AM on July 20, 2022 [18 favorites]

But he's not the victim, it's his audience!

This whole"defending the constitution" angle reminds me of reddit's "Malicious Compliance" sub but with infinitely higher stakes.
posted by grokus at 6:48 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

The title of this article should've been, "Alan Dershowitz whines his way back into the national press."
posted by panglos at 7:16 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

being deliberately disingenuous/dishonest

This is a weird and sometimes tremendously destructive thing that lawyers are vulnerable to.

You see, when you're making an argument in court, you're generally afforded a presumption that what you're saying is at least in good faith. As long as you're not making an assertion about actual facts, you don't have to believe it's true personally, but you do have to at least believe it's possible. You will get challenges to this presumption only in the most extreme of cases. And since the profession tends to attract the wordsmiths who weren't good enough to be writers, who are also highly economically motivated, that means people explore the edges of the frontier of Vaguely Plausible Bullshit with vigor. Do this long enough, and with the nigh-universal human motivation to think the best of yourself, you can find yourself applying the Vaguely Plausible Bullshit standard to your own life, your own actions, your own character. Never mind that no meaningful morality operates on the Vaguely Plausible Bullshit standard, nor that most people dealing in daily life at least expect others to be doing better. Once you apply the full force of your own intellect and your own practiced bullshitting skills to casuistry in your own defense, it's almost impossible to come back. Whether or not something is true becomes irrelevant. It's all about what you can argue without getting an FRCP 11 ("the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law") sanction.
posted by praemunire at 7:33 AM on July 20, 2022 [31 favorites]

“It’s not about me. It’s about the rest of civilization that’s being deprived of me.”

Which is about as narcissistic and gaslighty and “about me” as you can possibly get without causing the formation of a black hole singularity of ego-density.
posted by darkstar at 7:33 AM on July 20, 2022 [8 favorites]

→ (answer: world-historical narcissists such as Dershowitz)

See also Chotiner's interview with Conrad Black: it's more squirm-inducing than any Ali G interview.
posted by scruss at 8:00 AM on July 20, 2022

Why can’t he just feel lucky he’s not being prosecuted for his Epstein related activities? He’s 83 and clearly not a priority. Laying low might be a good strategy.
posted by Selena777 at 8:07 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Use his full title in recognition for his life’s accomplishments please. He isn’t just Alan, or Alan Dershowitz, or Mr. Dershowitz, refer to him at all times as “Alleged Child Rapist Alan Derschowitz”. This should also be the official name used on any promotional materials for any speaking engagement or media appearances.
posted by interogative mood at 8:53 AM on July 20, 2022 [24 favorites]

The other thing that I would like to mention to you is something that I've never ever experienced in my entire life.

That was not what I was expecting from a letter to Penthouse Forum.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 9:22 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]

Blackbeard: His words though… they sounded polite, but they stung.

Stede: Ah yes. That’s called passive aggression. You see, pirates, they attack with force. The upper crust strike with cutting remarks, disguised as politeness.

Blackbeard: That’s fucking diabolical.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 9:28 AM on July 20, 2022 [14 favorites]

Lying Fascist Enabler and Alleged Child Rapist Alan Dershowitz
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:29 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Lying Fascist Enabler and Alleged Child Rapist Alan Dershowitz

To the tune of the Cannibal Shia LaBeouf song.
posted by Spike Glee at 11:48 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Dear Mr. Lying Fascist Enabler and Alleged Child Rapist Alan Dershowitz,
Sometimes the things we say and do have consequences. I know it's hard to believe, since it probably hasn't happened to you in a very long time. But maybe you oughta shut up and take these 'consequences' as the cost of doing business on Trump's coattails before the powers that are just finishing up with Ghislaine Maxwell swivel their focus on your bloviating, media-whoring ass.

On second thought, ignore me completely, and keep that light shining loudly and brightly on how you've been wronged.
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:54 PM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Alan Dershowitz looks like the love child of Woody Allen and Jeffrey Epstein. Which I'm sure is just coincidence.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:07 PM on July 20, 2022

He's a very dark figure in American history, the kind of person where the truth of what he's up to is most likely far more depraved than even what you can imagine.
posted by chaz at 1:14 PM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Why can’t he just feel lucky he’s not being prosecuted for his Epstein related activities? He’s 83 and clearly not a priority. Laying low might be a good strategy.

Above a certain level of general entitlement you lose the ability to experience feelings like this.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:23 PM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]

praemunire, reading your comment I forgot this was a thread about Alan Dershowitz (that I posted, mind you) and assumed I was somehow reading about T*d Cr*z. So, yeah. *shudder*
posted by fedward at 6:26 PM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Same shit, different asshole, fedward.
posted by praemunire at 9:18 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

The librarian responds:

Hierta said it’s become a rite of summer. Dershowitz publishes another book and comes knocking. When she says no, he tries to bully her and the library.

“He has threatened me. He has threatened me repeatedly. He’s threatened to destroy the library and my personal directorship. He’s threatened me with a lawsuit,” Hierta said. “This once great man is reduced to bullying a librarian to sell a book.”

posted by dnash at 8:57 AM on July 22, 2022 [16 favorites]

Dershowitz said he was unaware of the hate mail to Hierta, but says it’s something he deals with on a daily basis. “That doesn’t have anything to do with me. Let her call the authorities,” he said of the mail Hierta said she received. “She should get a different job if she can’t take the heat.”

A different job than... small-town librarian? Well known for being a political hotseat?

Christ, what an asshole.
posted by biogeo at 9:49 AM on July 22, 2022 [15 favorites]

2022 brings us Alan Dershowitz being dunked on by his librarian so at least it's not all monkeypox and 9% inflation.
posted by Nelson at 10:03 AM on July 22, 2022 [7 favorites]

His whole "these people depend on me!" reasoning was a dead giveaway that he's full of shit.
posted by rhizome at 2:33 PM on July 22, 2022

Funny how none of Dershowitz’ claims about what other people should do ever seem to apply to himself.
posted by eviemath at 4:38 PM on July 22, 2022 [2 favorites]

Yeah, Dersh is one of the biggest "cancel grifters" out there.

I confess I only became familiar with the term a few weeks ago, with the story of the canceled Princeton professor (NYT) who is moving on to a cushy job at the American Enterprise Institute. (The Times at least had the decency to put "canceled" in quotation marks, and I think the story is kind of a takedown but geez.)
posted by BibiRose at 7:28 AM on July 23, 2022 [2 favorites]

And now the New Yorker has fired Erin Overbey
posted by lalochezia at 11:50 AM on July 25, 2022 [3 favorites]

Seems that should be its own (very interesting, too) thread?
posted by Ahmad Khani at 11:53 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]

(The Times at least had the decency to put "canceled" in quotation marks, and I think the story is kind of a takedown but geez.)

It's the second article that Anemona Hartocollis has written about that particular "Campus Controversy". In between those two, she also wrote about how Ilya Shapiro's claim that no Black woman could possibly be qualified for the Supreme Court was a "Free Speech Fight". The NYT sure seems to publish a lot of overly subtle takedowns that seem to assign a lot of weight to both sides.
posted by Etrigan at 1:04 PM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]