Jonah Lehrer Resigns From The New Yorker After Making Up Dylan Quotes for His Book

July 31, 2012 - 2:10 pm | Category: Money

Jonah Lehrer, a staff writer for The New Yorker, resigned from the magazine after admitting to to recycling his previous work in articles, blogs and his best-selling book Imagine, which included fabricated quotes attributed to Bob Dylan.

In a statement Lehrer says, “Three weeks ago, I received an email from journalist Michael Moynihan asking about Bob Dylan quotes in my book Imagine. The quotes in question either did not exist, were unintentional misquotations, or represented improper combinations of previously existing quotes. But I told Mr. Moynihan that they were from archival interview footage provided to me by Dylan’s representatives. This was a lie spoken in a moment of panic. When Mr. Moynihan followed up, I continued to lie, and say things I should not have said. The lies are over now. I understand the gravity of my position. I want to apologize to everyone I have let down, especially my editors and readers. I also owe a sincere apology to Mr. Moynihan. I will do my best to correct the record and ensure that my misquotations and mistakes are fixed. I have resigned my position as staff writer at The New Yorker.” A spokesperson for Dylan was unavailable for comment.