Recently in my class on the publishing industry in the 21st century a classmate of mine alerted myself, my professor, and the rest of our seminar to some truly disturbing news. My professor quickly pulled up an article from earlier this year from the Pacific Standard on the projector detailing a string of accounts about Young Adult author Daniel Handler’s history of derogatory language, specifically towards women in the Children’s Literature industry. If you haven’t heard of Handler it’s probably because he goes by the pseudonym Lemony Snicket when he publishes his novels, his most popular being his “A Series of Unfortunate Events” series that I and many of my friends were obsessed with when we were young.

The article detailed Snicket’s reputation of unwarranted, overtly sexual language primarily used in the company of females in the children’s publishing industry including various librarians. One of the more despicable quotes being "These children's book events always turn into orgies!" The article distinguishes his behavior from overtly predatory conduct but defines it as workplace sexual harassment. In my opinion this harassment has a particularly twisted and sick tilt on it being directed towards women in a community focused on children. Librarians? Seriously?

Now that I was aware that a beloved author of mine from my childhood is crude, perverted, and probably a misogynist I didn’t know how to grapple with this information. Was I still allowed to look up to him because of his literary talents and overlook his distasteful misconduct? Would I have to scorn him like the rest of the country has with most of the men under fire from the #MeToo movement? Did I even get to decide that being a man myself? I didn’t know, and I still don’t.

I began thinking about where Art and Morality intersect, if inappropriate, inexcusable behavior or questionable politics could interfere with the appreciation of someone’s craft. Can someone still watch Louis C.K.’s comedy even though he has numerous accusations of sexual misconduct on his head? Can I still listen to Migos even though they are known homophobes? What about those Woody Allen movies? Aziz Ansari and “Master of None”? Can I still watch “Girls” with its glaring lack of racial diversity? Is there even an answer to these questions?

The most important thing to say is that there is a vast difference between “The Pig Monster” film producer Harvey Weinstein with allegations of sexual abuse from over 80 women and Aziz Ansari whose allegation of sexual misconduct at the end of a bad date is described by Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic as the woman’s “buyer’s remorse”. But the impossible question is, Where do we draw the line? How can we quantify one person’s pain and compare it to another’s? To continue to support Weinstein or his production firm seems morally bankrupt while continuing to stream “Master of None” with creator and star Ansari seems much less sinister.

I suppose the simple response to this unanswerable question is that it’s all a matter of personal politics. Whether I still support Kevin Spacey after over a dozen males, some underage, stepped forward during the #MeToo flood to accuse Spacey of sexual assault is a personal preference; it all comes down to where I believe the intersection of Art and Morality is. And maybe you believe it’s just a little bit to the left. This intersection I’m sure will change based on things like gender, sexual identity, upbringing, political affiliation, and previous opinions on the accused as well as the severity of each case.

Whether I continue to support Lemony Snicket’s career and his predatory nature, sheepishly if at all, is my own choice. If I choose to reread his series maybe I’ll avoid going to Barnes & Noble and buying all 13 books so he doesn’t get the royalties; I guess there’s the library and friends to borrow from but even then, will I feel right reading these books? Probably not, but that’s just me.