The Nobel literature prize is being postponed this year because of a sex scandal that has rocked the Swedish Academy, the organization which is responsible for awarding the iconic prize since its inception, CNN reported Friday.
It will be the first time the Nobel Prize for literature has been postponed since 1943, at the height of World War II.
The postponement came after a meeting among the cultural organization's 10 remaining members on Thursday night. Six of the Swedish Academy's members had resigned from their lifetime appointments to the board in the wake of the scandal, CNN noted.
Jean-Claude Arnault, a towering cultural figure in Sweden and husband of former board member Katarina Frostenson, has been at the center of the crisis. Arnault, who has attended many of the academy's events, has been hit with numerous allegations of sexual assault and harassment.
Although the chargers were first reported in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter late last year, the academy reportedly knew about the allegations as early as 1996 from a letter describing an alleged sexual assault at Arnault's cultural forum, CNN said.
The Dagens Nyheter article, which does not mention Arnault by name, said 18 women had come forward with sexual assault charges. Arnault, though his attorneys, has denied the allegations, CNN said.
The academy provided funds to the Kulturplats Forum, a cultural center run by Arnault and Frostenson, which also represented a conflict of interest.
Arnault was also accused of touching Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria inappropriately at a Swedish Academy event more than a decade ago, CNN said.
An academy statement last month acknowledged that "unacceptable behavior" had occurred, but it did not have widespread knowledge of it and was not aware of criminal activity.
"The Swedish Academy is in a state of crisis following a period of strong disagreement between members over important issues," the academy said in its April statement. "Confidence in the academy has been undermined, the number of active members is diminished, and there has been an unplanned change in the post of permanent secretary.”
"In coming weeks, the Academy aims to produce a plan to reestablish public confidence, and eventually return to fertile cooperation among a complete roster of active members."
That apparently didn’t happen.
"We find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the academy before the next laureate can be announced," Anders Olsson, the academy's secretary, said in a statement late Thursday, per CNN. He wrote that it was acting "out of respect for previous and future literature laureates, the Nobel Foundation and the general public."
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