Simon Denyer

Denyer graduated from Lancing College in 1983.[1] He earned a master of arts degree in economics from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1987.

Denyer served as the Washington Post’s bureau chief in India (2011-2013), China (2013-2018), and Japan and the Koreas (2018-2021) before leaving the newspaper in September 2021.[2] He was also a Reuters bureau chief in Washington, New Delhi, Islamabad and Kabul; and as a Reuters correspondent in Nairobi, New York and London.

Denyer's sexual harassment accusation during his tenure as the Washington Post's bureau chief in China sparked widespread discussion of the Me Too Movement in journalism when it was made public in 2021.[3][4] A female reporter made the accusation in a 2018 WeChat thread among foreign correspondents and diplomats in China who were discussing sexual misconduct allegations against the Los Angeles Times’ then-Beijing bureau chief Jonathan Kaiman. Several male members of the chat attacked Kaiman's accuser, and one female reporter lamented their dismissiveness, claiming that the men in the thread had previously tried to block women from their pick-up soccer matches. After Denyer replied with what the female reporter characterized as "snark," she accused Denyer of having once sent her an unsolicited photo of his pantless crotch. The Washington Post opened an investigation on Denyer and ruled no professional wrongdoing on Denyer's part that warranted dismissal and instead issued him a warning. Denyer was transferred to Japan that same year.

In September 2021, Denyer resigned from The Washington Post one month after his accusation was made public by The Daily Beast in its coverage of Felicia Sonmez's lawsuit against the Post.[5] Sonmez accused the newspaper of managerial hypocrisy for having barred her from covering stories on sexual assault because she had come out as a sexual assault survivor, while allowing Denyer to continue coverage of such stories despite his past sexual harassment accusation.[6] James Palmer, a Foreign Policy editor and China correspondent who has documented widespread sexual misconduct among Western journalists in Beijing, responded to the controversy by stating, “It’s extremely fucked up. You treat the victim worse than someone accused of this stuff."[3][7]

Journalists have also drawn connections between Denyer and the Me Too Movement by noting that Denyer is represented by Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, the same law firm that represented Harvey Weinstein during his 2017 sexual abuse allegations.[4]

Denyer faced plagiarism accusations in his 2012 article "India's Prime Minister becomes a Tragic Figure."[8] Several quotes from the article first appeared in a 2011 article published by the Indian magazine The Caravan without citation. Former media advisor Sanjaya Baru - who is quoted in Denyer's article - responded by stating, “Simon Denyer quotes me in Washington Post without talking to me. He has merely rehashed what I told Caravan last year.”[9][10] Another expert quoted in Denyer's article — Tushar Poddar, an economist from Goldman Sachs — also distanced himself from the comments attributed to him, telling the Post that “these published remarks bear little or no resemblance to my recollection of a conversation I had with your correspondent several months ago."[11]

Denyer admitted that his quotes came from The Caravan but refused to issue an apology.[9] The Washington Post printed a correction and transferred Denyer to China the next year.