The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Literature Prize, has been rattled by a sex scandal as several members, their wives and daughters accused an influential person with close ties to the prestigious institution of assault.
After a “crisis meeting” on Thursday evening, the Swedish Academy announced that it was cutting all ties with the accused, whom it had funded and allowed to manage an apartment it owns in an upscale Paris neighbourhood. The prominent institution said it would launch an internal inquiry to find out if the man “has had any direct or indirect influence on the Academy’s prizes, scholarships, and fundings of any kind”.
The #MeToo wave, exposing sexual misconduct, which began in Hollywood has shaken artistic, media and political circles in Sweden. Sweden’s prestigious literary scene was drawn into the fray on Tuesday when newspaper of reference Dagens Nyheter published the testimony of 18 women claiming to have been assaulted or raped by an influential figure in Stockholm’s cultural scene.
Name kept under wraps
The accused man’s name has not been published in the media due to Swedish laws on the presumption of innocence. But his identity is known to many as he is a high profile person in cultural circles.
The man has told Dagens Nyheter he is innocent.