HYPOCRITE

Assange Enraged Over Leaked Memoir

Draft was published without his consent.

Julian Assange is getting a taste of his own medicine: on Thursday, a draft of the WikiLeaks founder’s memoir, which was published without his approval, will go on sale online and in stores. He condemned the British publisher, Canongate, for “profiteering from an unfinished and erroneous draft,” a work in progress that he had not yet fact checked. Canongate, which paid for rights to the memoir last year, has dubbed the book an “unauthorized autobiography,” which Assange had previously promised would be “one of the unifying documents of our generation.” But the publisher maintains that as Assange began recording 50 hours of interviews about his life, he changed his tune about writing a tell-all book, saying “all memoir is prostitution.” Canongate said Assange tried to cancel the deal but since he had not yet repaid his advance, the publisher decided to release the first draft he submitted in March. Canongate publishing director Nick Davies said the book, which is “like its author, passionate, provocative and opinionated,” follows Assange’s life from his childhood in Australia through his computer-hacking adolescent days to founding WikiLeaks.