Exclusive: AI Scandal Rocks Publishing World — Will Hollywood Care or Keep Pursuing the Hottest Book in Town?

Happy Wednesday, folks — and apologies to everyone waiting for my review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I know you’re on pins and needles awaiting my verdict so you can decide whether or not to buy a ticket (LOL, good luck!), but you’ll have to wait just a little while longer, as I’ve got some massive news to share.

This story involves a young Black author, and the timing is quite a coincidence, as it arrives on the heels of a wave of stories about another young Black author, Tomi Adeyemi, who is distancing herself from Paramount’s blockbuster adaptation of her bestselling novel, Children of Blood and Bone.

Today, Adeyemi released a five-minute video referencing — but not identifying — the terrible things that she suffered through and “endured” during the making of Children of Blood and Bone.

I don’t know where Adeyemi’s team is, but they have failed her by allowing her to post this video, which makes her seem entitled, ungrateful, and completely clueless regarding the collaborative process of making movies in Hollywood.

Welcome to showbiz, Tomi! If Paramount making a $100 million adaptation of your book is the worst thing you’ve “ever had to live through,“ I’d tell you to count your blessings. Because in Hollywood, once you take the money, you give up control.

At least Adeyemi still has her fortune. This other author may not be so lucky, from what I hear…

Premium subscribers can continue reading for more — and trust me — you’re going to want to hear this one, as this story is going to make major headlines in the days ahead.

Exclusive: AI Scandal Rocks Publishing World — Will Hollywood Care or Keep Pursuing Hottest Book in Town?

A massive scandal is currently unfolding in the publishing world, and trust me, Hollywood is going to be paying close attention to this one, as this story is one of the first of its kind, though it certainly will not be the last.

Let’s start at the beginning, with an up-and-coming author from overseas, who, for the purposes of this story, I will refer to as Michael.

It was never reported, but Michael inked one of the biggest publishing deals of the year for his debut crime novel, which recently became a genuine phenomenon in the publishing world — albeit under the radar.

Industry trade publication Publisher’s Weekly hasn’t even written about it.

I’m told that Michael, a first-time author, inked a two-book deal with Minotaur Books, an imprint of mega-publisher Macmillan, for at least $2.5 million — and possibly as much as $4 million. Either way, life-changing money for a young man.

For the purposes of this story, I am going to call Michael’s book Crime Novel. The book follows a Winston Wolf-type fixer (Harvey Keitel’s character in Pulp Fiction) whom you might call if you needed a crime scene cleaned up.

The story lends itself to a crime-of-the-week type of TV show, one with international flair, and sure enough, Hollywood quickly came calling.

I’m told that over the past few months, Michael has met with dozens of top Hollywood producers and executives, with the town frothing at the mouth to lock down the TV rights to Crime Novel.

I understand that UTA’s Jason Richman has been quarterbacking the massive TV auction.

There’s just one problem… Crime Novel may never see the light of day. At least not from a major publisher.

On Wednesday evening, Michael’s UK book agent, Sandy Hodgman of Hodgman Literary, sent an email on behalf of his U.S. book agent, Marc Gerald of Europa Content (who counts Kevin Hart among his literary clients), that featured a truly extraordinary admission.

Here is the email, reprinted as it was sent:

“[Michael] produced an incredible manuscript that dazzled us and the top publishing professionals around the world. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to authenticate how the manuscript fully evolved from origin to completion. 

During the submission process we vetted the manuscript with [Michael] for AI and felt trusting in his reassurance that it was written without utilizing AI as a resource in the writing or editorial process. We can no longer substantiate that, and we are withdrawing the book.

This raises so many questions about authorship and what AI means for this industry but those are questions for another day. We regret that our enthusiasm led to this outcome and we apologize to our publishing partners.”

It’s my understanding that some publishing world insiders who read the manuscript (which I have obtained a copy of) had early suspicions that Michael employed the use of AI, at least to some extent, but I’m told that those suspicions may have been dismissed by Minotaur (and other hopeful publishers) because Michael is from overseas, so any confusion was chalked up to a possible language barrier, or something to that effect.

I’m told that Michael is now going to be forced to return the money to Minotaur, as the book deal is likely to be canceled, and that Richman plans to update everyone waiting on pins and needles in Hollywood as soon as he returns from a trip to London.

“The accusations are wrong, and I am completely innocent,” Michael told me by phone on Wednesday night.

“I was on the verge of success, and then all of a sudden, there were rumors, but no one asked me anything. I don’t know why my agency did not have my back,” said Michael, who noted that the book’s publisher is still willing to listen to his side of the story.

“When something like this happens, everyone tries to protect themselves and their own reputations. If it was really AI, would the top publishers in the world have participated in the auction? I have a feeling this is a disgruntled agent or someone who started this rumor in a bid to save themselves,” said Michael, who declined to identify the agent or comment on either financial figures or which Hollywood luminaries he has interacted with in recent weeks.

“My book deals… everything was literally gone within a matter of hours, and no one cared about my side of the story. I have evidence, for crying out loud. You can check the metadata,” Michael insisted.

“There are times I’ve checked manuscripts I’ve written in the past, as far back as 2017, and it’ll say it was generated by AI, when AI wasn’t even available to the public like it is now,” he added.

“Just because I say I’m not guilty doesn’t mean people will believe it. Think about it. A Black man from [redacted] signed a life-changing contract, and then what happened? Someone started spreading rumors, and boom. All of these things happened within the past six hours. How is this not a coordinated thing? I mean, come on…

“I’ve lost so much already. I have no one to call… no friends in this industry. I don’t know anything. I simply wrote my manuscript, and it sparked crazy bidding wars across multiple countries.

“I don’t care what other reporters write; I care about what you, Jeff, actually think about me. I could’ve told you ‘No Comment,’ or not said anything without a lawyer, but I have no one to help me prove my innocence.”

Truthfully, I’m not here to prove Michael’s innocence… or to rubber-stamp his book agent’s email and call him “guilty,” which is a pretty heavy word.

I point you to the case of Mia Ballard, whose horror novel Shy Girl was canceled by Hachette Book Group this past March following widespread allegations online that the author relied heavily on AI to write the book, per the New York Times.

Ballard denied using AI herself, contending that she hired an acquaintance to edit the self-published version of the novel, and that person likely used AI without Ballard even knowing.

“This controversy has changed my life in many ways and my mental health is at an all time low and my name is ruined for something I didn’t even personally do,” Ballard wrote in an email to the Times.

That’s why I ultimately decided not to use Michael’s real name — to help him preserve what’s left of his mental health.

But, as the Times noted, publishers have held a firm line on AI-generated text. It’s a big no-no in the publishing world.

But what about in Hollywood?

The question is whether the town’s interest will wane, forcing network/streaming execs to stand down, or if they won’t even care. After all, a good TV show is a good TV show… so who cares if AI had a hand in it?

Look at A Million Little Pieces, the self-proclaimed “memoir” from fabulist author James Frey that turned out to be a bunch of BS. Oprah stumped for that 2003 book, and when Frey made her look like a fool on national TV, she brought him back on her show to rake him over the coals.

Nonetheless, A Million Little Pieces was turned into a 2018 movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, while Frey landed countless other writing gigs, recently publishing his 12th book last year.

We’ll see whether Hollywood continues to pursue Crime Novel, which might be available for a fraction of the price after this story. But one thing is clear — using AI and trying to pass the work off as your own is going to start catching up with artists, and it could very well cost some people their careers.

In America, you’re innocent until proven guilty. But in the cutthroat worlds of publishing and television, sometimes, you’re presumed guilty until proven innocent. That sucks, but it’s the way of the world.

Michael will either become a cautionary tale, or he’ll find a way to prove his innocence and vindicate himself.

I was prepared to publish a very different version of this story before Michael responded to a request for comment, begging me to keep his real name out of it, as he’s currently a scholarship student somewhere in America.

In other words, a young man’s future is at stake, and I don’t take that lightly.

I told him I had to think about it and that I would call him on Thursday morning. I called my friend at the New York Times, my former editor at Variety and TheWrap, and two of my best friends (one with a journalism background himself) to get their advice on what to do with this story, which is outside of my typical wheelhouse.

After much internal debate, I decided to publish the story on Wednesday night and give him a pseudonym — a compromise of sorts.

I get to publish, while he gets his name kept out of the story.

If someone else decides to publish Michael’s real name, there’s nothing I can do. This story was coming out one way or the other.

But Michael appealed to my humanity as a journalist, and I must admit, I found his story compelling and could hear the pain in his voice.

I hope that he feels like I did right by him in not using his name, while acknowledging my responsibility as a journalist to tell this story, which has far larger ramifications than his personal book/TV deals.

Speaking of which, Richman did not respond to a request for comment late on Wednesday.

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