New York Times correspondent Glenn Thrush made unwanted advances on young journalists, Vox reports

(Image credit: Kirk Irwin/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

published 20 November 2017

New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush is accused of making unwanted advances on aspiring young female journalists, Vox reports. Formerly of Politico, Thrush, 50, is accused in one instance of paying for a colleague's cab in order to be left alone with Vox reporter Laura McGann. "He slid into my side of the booth, blocking me in," writes McGann of the incident, which she says took place five years ago. "I was wearing a skirt, and he put his hand on my thigh. He started kissing me."

In another account, from June 2015, a young woman at a bar with Thrush texted her friend, Bianca Padró Ocasio, from the bathroom: "I'm drunk," she wrote. "I'm nervous about this Glenn situation." The woman's friends urged her to get an Uber, but she reportedly left the bar with Thrush to get fresh air instead:

[Thrush] led her down an incline to a dimly lit path along the old C&O Canal bed. He kissed her, she says, and she panicked. Then her phone rang, jolting her. It was Padró Ocasio […] The young woman ordered an Uber — the receipt shows it was about 11 p.m. — and says she planned to call Padró Ocasio back once inside the car. In the few minutes she waited, she said, Thrush walked back over to her and started to kiss her again. She began to cry. When Thrush saw, he abruptly walked off, waving his hand flippantly, and left her alone to wait for her ride, she said. [Vox]

Thrush called the June incident "a life-changing event [for me]" and said that "over the past several years, I have responded to a succession of personal and health crises by drinking heavily." He added: "I have not taken a drink since June 15, 2017, have resumed counseling, and will soon begin out-patient treatment for alcoholism."

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The New York Times says Thrush is suspended while the reports are investigated. Read more at Vox.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.