https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2017-09-27/harry-knowles-accused-of-sexual-harassment/

Harry Knowles Accused of Sexual Harassment

By Richard Whittaker, September 27, 2017, 12:01pm, Newsdesk

Harry Knowles, one of the most recognizable figures in the Austin film community for the last two decades as a founder of the Ain't It Cool News website, has faced serious professional consequences – although no legal issues yet – after allegations from peers this week of sexual harassment.

The allegations came in the wake of the current scandal surrounding some aspects of the business culture within the Alamo Drafthouse. Those came in turn after it was revealed that disgraced former employee Devin Faraci (who resigned in 2016 after he was accused of, and did not deny, claims he had groped another critic) had been quietly re-employed soon after his exit.

Knowles was not a direct employee of the Drafthouse. However, he was a co-founder of Fantastic Fest (although he had taken an increasingly small role in recent years), as well as holding his annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon film marathon there.

Initially, there seemed to be no connection between Knowles and the fallout from the revelation that Faraci was being used to write film descriptions for the festival. That led to confusion when AICN was removed as a festival sponsor, and Knowles subsequently announced that he would not be attending the festival. He then later added that "there's a story coming out about me that is 100 percent untrue."

The story he referred to was by Indiewire journalists Kate Erbland and Dana Harris, who reported detailed allegations against him. Austin resident Jasmine Baker told them that, around 1999 and 2000, Knowles repeatedly touched her in an inappropriate fashion, against her express wishes, and that this happened on several occasions. She also noted that she informed Drafthouse founders Tim and Karrie League (she later worked for the Drafthouse between 2003 and 2007) of what had happened at the time, and has talked to them again in the wake of the most recent discussions about the business turning a blind eye to what has increasingly been dubbed the "boys' club" mentality.

Knowles initially denied those claims. However, since Erbland's original article, four more women have come forward to say that they had been harassed and groped by Knowles.

The Alamo Drafthouse has now severed all connections with Knowles. In a statement released by Tim League on Sept. 25, the Drafthouse founder wrote that Knowles is "no longer connected with the firm in any capacity," and that in the wake of both the Knowles and Faraci allegations, they were putting together a new board of directors for Fantastic Fest, headed by festival executive director Kristen Bell.

The allegations triggered a wave of exits at Knowles' site, including longtime contributors Eric Vespe (who wrote under the pseudonym Quint), Chicago-based critic Steve Prokopy (Capone), and a Seattle-based writer who writes as Horrorella.

On Monday evening, Knowles was formally removed from the Austin Film Critics Association. The body issued a statement signed by president Brian Salisbury and vice president Neil Miller: “After obtaining a substantial majority vote from membership, we have made the decision to remove Harry Knowles from our group. We feel this is the best choice for our organization and for the future of the Austin film community.”

On Tuesday night, Knowles announced via Twitter his sister will run Ain't It Cool News “while I step away” but gave no indicator how long – or how permanent – his absence from AICN will be.

Teaching my sister the ins and outs of AICN for take-over. I feel she's doing a great job, while I step away. Tomorrow she emails contacts
— Harry Knowles (@headgeek666) September 27, 2017