ink-stained wretches

Jill Abramson Breaks Silence (on Girls)

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 07: Executive Editor of The New York Times Jill Abramson attends the WIRED Business Conference: Think Bigger at Museum of Jewish Heritage on May 7, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for WIRED)
“Seriously, Marnie, get it together.” Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images

Now that fired New York Times editor Jill Abramson has decided to grant interviews about her ugly dismissal, the public can finally get answers to the big, lingering questions. Like her opinion on Lena Dunham. “I love Girls although I didn’t love the last season,” Abramson tells Cosmopolitan, which has excerpts today from her first major interview, to be published in the September issue. “Marnie has completely fallen apart as a character, although Allison Williams is a good actress.”

On issues of more substance, like her “brusque” and “pushy” manner, Abramson was firm but diplomatic. “The whole issue of how women’s management styles are viewed is an incredibly interesting subject,” she said. “Is it hard to say I was fired? No. I’ve said it about 20 times, and it’s not. I was in fact insistent that that be publicly clear because I was not ashamed of that. And I don’t think young women — it’s hard, I know — they should not feel stigmatized if they are fired.”

Since the ordeal, Abramson said she has enjoyed the company of her dog, a trip to Greece with her sister, rereading novels (To Kill a Mockingbird, All the King’s Men), and every Yankees game, even attending “a couple of day games that I would never have been able to.”

I now have time literally to read the whole New York Times print paper every day,” she said. “It’s great; I love it. I love the institution still.”

To that list of activities, she’ll now add media appearances: In addition to the Cosmo interview, Abramson will appear on Fox News with Greta Van Sustern on Wednesday night, Politico reports, and with Yahoo’s Katie Couric on Thursday. This evening, she called in to WABC’s “The Ride Home” with Pat Kiernan and Rita Cosby. “It’s true that my departure was abrupt but I have very few regrets,” she said, declining to go into specifics about accusations of sexism or unequal pay.

I am now past the point of wanting to rehash those issues,” said Abramson. “I’m not going to talk about that.” Girls it is, then.

Jill Abramson Breaks Silence (on Girls)