From:
Lawrence Krauss
Sent:
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 5:42 PM
To:
jeffrey E.
Subject:
Re: final draft email
thanks. I will bet you that the COO at least will respond. =nbsp;I would bet you a lot of money, but I would hate to go
broke as =ell as being defamed if I am wrong. :) Sigh.. Lilli just heard =he didn't get the job she was up for.. it was down
to 2 people =n the end.. I feel so badly for her too.. Nashville is damn =xpensive, and she is trying so hard to get work
again. Wonderful =eek. :)
Lawrence
On Feb 14, 2018, at 10:37 AM, jeffrey E. <
[email protected]> wrote:
yes, but i dont think they will =espond. so a call is better this is not =cademia, this is tabloid
On Wed, =eb 14, 2018 at 12:37 PM, Lawrence Krauss
wrote:
by =his, do you mean the email is ok as is? I won't send it =ill after I call.
On Feb =4, 2018, at 10:34 AM, jeffrey E.
[email protected]> wrote:
ok
<mailto
On Wed, =eb 14, 2018 at 12:29 PM, Lawrence Krauss
wrote:
Dear Neil and Michael:
Attached is a copy of some correspondence from Buzzfeed, =hich has followed on six
months of attempts (following on their being =ontacted by a third party who made a claim regarding a selfie session =t
an event in Australia that ASU and ANU had previously shown to be =alse) to produce allegations of sexual harassment
by me. Over =his period they produced 5 false allegations, primarily off of web =laims which I subsequently
demonstrated to be false. Nevertheless =he harassment by them has continued.
Most recently, Buzzfeed searched for =ther defamatory examples, and through
someone, presumably at Perimeter, received the following claim.
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—At the Perimeter Institute's "Quantum to Cosmos" Festival in October 2009, a
woman =ade a formal complaint of sexual harassment against you. The institute =mmediately removed you from the
premises and banned you from ever =oming =ack.
=/blockquote>
=/div>
=div class="">
After I disputed =his claim, they came back with the following claim, which they
said was =n the record by someone from Perimeter:
In =ctober of 2009, you went to Waterloo, Ontario, to be a guest
speaker at =he Quantum to Cosmos Festival at =he Perimeter Institute.
During the event, a sexual harassment complaint was filed =gainst you.
You were immediately removed from the premises and banned =rom
ever coming back.
The institute would not provide more details to respect =he
complainant's privacy. =/span>
<=div>
</=iv>
I disputed this, and included an email from you, Neil as a =emonstration that it
was false (I redacted the information that was not =elevant to them):
Begin forwarded message:
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Dear Larry,
I =ope you're doing very well. It was nice to have you at PI for the Q2C =estival
and I do hope you'll be able to visit again soon.
I'm writing in regard to Holden XXX, who I have been working =ith recently ...
With my best wishes,
Neil
Subsequent=to that, Buzzfeed came back with the following:
Thank you for sending the email from Neil Turok. We have =aised this with the
Perimeter Institute, which has clarified its =osition, as follows:
During=the event, a sexual harassment complaint was filed with the
=dministration against you.
In =012, as part of a formal review of its internal policies, the institute
=ade a decision that you would not be invited to =eturn.
I believe this final claim is false, and I would like =onfirmation from you. It may
be a fine point, but I believe it is =mportant. Originally Michael informed me immediately after the =vent in 2009 that
there was a complaint of inappropriate =ommunication with one of the staff--something I still dispute--but be =hat as it
may, he informed me by email that I shoudn't =ommunicate with the staff I had interacted with at the time, and the
=atter was then considered closed. Several years later I was =nvited to give another public lecture but your outreach
coordinator =ater rescinded the invitation, although I was reimbursed for =hat. As you are aware, I subsequently
discussed my concern about =his with Neil in Vancouver in that year, and inquired about exactly =hat it was all about,
and informed him that either a formal procedure =o resolve any issue in which I could participate and respond might be
=ppropriate, or the matter should be dropped. Neil said he would explore =he matter, and neither he, nor anyone else,
ever contacted me following =hat. I have never been informed of anything like Buzzfeed has =laimed. Indeed I have
been invited back to Perimeter for scientific =eetings by various colleagues in the intervening years. I =ould find it
highly irregular if any formal procedure took place with =uch an outcome without my knowledge or without any due
process, and =ithout subsequently informing me, and all evidence I have suggests the =ontrary.
I am very concerned by this claim below, for obvious =easons. First, the original
Perimeter source provided false and =efamatory information to Buzzfeed, changing a story only after I =rovided counter-
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evidence.
The accurate history if there =s one, is that there was a complaint from someone at Perimeter about
=nappropriate communication and that 3 years later a decision was =ade by the outreach coordinator, perhaps in
collaboration with others, =ot to invite me back at that time for a public lecture. I would =ike to have your confirm for
me that Buzzfeed's claim is =ncorrect a it stands I would prefer to leave it at that, but if =ecessary one could add that
there was a report of inappropriate =ommunication with an employee at the event at the time, which I =isputed and the
matter was closed.
Please confirm my understanding of this =ssue for me if you will. As you can
imagine, making this public =s embarrassing for me, Buzzfeed has tried, at every turn, to =isrepresent facts in the worst
possible light, it is important for me =o not allow them to continue to do this with impunity. For =xample, they
contacted my university and asked if there any claims fo =exual harassment against me, and though the University
explicitly =eplied there were none from the University, but that there was an =xternal allegation about a remote event
that the University had =nvestigated and had discredited (the one I mentioned above) and about =hich they would
therefore not provide further information, Buzzfeed =nformed me that they intended to report that they contacted the
=niversity with a request for information about sexual harassment =Ilegations at ASU and that the University would not
give them any =nformation.
Last, while it would not ber surprising if Buzzfeed has =eiinterpeted statements
from Perimeter staff just to elicit a response, =ut if a member of your staff made the original false allegation to =uzzfeed
(violating confidentiality in the process I expect) I wanted =ou to be aware of this possibility, and if necessary act
=ccordingly.
I really appreciate your prompt attention to this =equest.
Lawrence Krauss
Lawrence M. =rauss
Director, The Origins Project at ASU
Co-Director, Cosmology Initiative
Foundation Professor
School of Earth & Space =xploration and Physics Department
Arizona State =niversity, P.O. Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404
-Origins Project 10 Year Celebration-
Be a part of something 10 years in =he making!
April 5-9th 2018 — Visit for more info
<image002.png>
please note
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The information contained in this =ommunication is
confidential, may be attorney-client =rivileged, may
constitute inside information, and is =ntended only for
the use of the addressee. It is the =roperty of
JEE
Unauthorized use, disclosure =r copying of this
communication or any part thereof is =trictly prohibited
and may be unlawful. If you have =eceived this
communication in error, please notify us =mmediately by
return e-mail or by e-mail to
[email protected], and
destroy this =ommunication and all copies thereof,
including all =ttachments. copyright -all rights reserved
Lawrence M. Krauss
Director, The Origins Project at ASU
Co-Director =Cosmology Initiative
Foundation =rofessor
School of =arth & Space Exploration and Physics Department
Arizona=State University, P.O. Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404
-Origins Project 10 Year Celebration-
Be a part of something 10 years in the making!
April 5-9th 2018 — Visit for more =nfo <https://www.originsl0year.com/>
<image002.png>
please note
The information contained in this =ommunication is
confidential, may be attorney-client =rivileged, may
constitute inside information, and is =ntended only for
the use of the addressee. It is the =roperty of
JEE
Unauthorized use, disclosure =r copying of this
communication or any part thereof is =trictly prohibited
and may be unlawful. If you have =eceived this
communication in error, please notify us =mmediately by
return e-mail or by e-mail to
[email protected], and
destroy this =ommunication and all copies thereof,
5
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EFTA02526226
including all =ttachments. copyright -all rights reserved
Lawrence M. =rauss
Director, The Origins Project at ASU
Co-Director, Cosmology Initiative
Foundation Professor
School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics =epartment
Arizona State University, P.O. Box =71404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404
-Origins Project =0 Year Celebration-
Be a part of =omething 10 years in the making!
April 5-9th 2018 — Visit for more info <https://www.originsl0year.com/>
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