‘You Are Disgusting!’ Gawker Editor Says Thomas Chatterton Williams Berated Her at Book Party

Kipp JonesApr 27th, 2022, 6:14 pm
 

JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images

Gawker editor Leah Finnegan claimed Wednesday she was berated at a book party by Thomas Chatterton Williams of the Atlantic.

Finnegan recounted she was called “disgusting” by the culture critic at a Tuesday evening party for the release of Tina Brown’s new book, “The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor–the Truth and the Turmoil.”

The event, in the way Finnegan described it, was a typical literary affair about a new book about the British royal family.

That was until she encountered Williams, who she used to work with, and was allegedly not happy to see her there:

I was at this party, and so was Thomas Chatterton Williams. I was with a pal who wanted to say hi to him, so we went over to chat. He greeted my friend warmly and then turned to me. “You,” he said, pointing his finger at me, “you are disgusting. Disgusting.”

I laughed. What? He must be kidding, I thought. This is a fun party for adults! Meghan and Harry! The Queen is old! The Jubbly! The only thing I could think of to say was “it takes one to know one” (not very good, I know).

But he continued on his odd tirade. “You are disgusting. You are not successful. You are disgusting.” He must have said “you are disgusting” to me about 15 times. It became clear that he was definitely not joking.

Finnegan said the verbal dressing down ended after her friend intervened.

The Gawker editor noted she did not know why Williams was so irate at seeing her, as the publication has only covered him twice since it rebooted:

At this iteration of Gawker, we’ve written two articles about him: how he was leaving his post at Harper’s to go to the Atlantic, how he was mad he couldn’t get a blue check on Twitter. The posts were cutting but nothing anyone hasn’t already said about him in book reviews or on Wikipedia or on Twitter, where he regularly gets into extended skirmishes with other writers.

Williams hasn’t mentioned the alleged encounter on Twitter, although he did appear curious as to how he could get verified on the platform on the day of the alleged tongue-lashing.

Finnegan concluded of the run-in that no one should be called “disgusting” at a party about the royal family, minus Prince Andrew, who she called a “pedophile.”

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