New York Times Ends Romance Columnist Olivia Waite's Contract After Bluesky Repost
The New York Times Book Review has ended its contract with romance columnist Olivia Waite after she reposted a critical message about the paper on Bluesky, a social media site. Publishers Marketplace reported the decision on 3 November 2026.
Waite had written the romance column for more than six years. A romance columnist is a writer who reviews and discusses romance novels in a regular slot, for readers who follow the genre. Her repost was made without any comment of her own.
The message she shared came from journalist Mark Jacob. He described the response from Patrick Healy, the paper's assistant managing editor, as “unacceptable.” Healy is a senior editor, one of the people who oversee what the newsroom publishes.
The dispute grew out of a separate exchange. Journalist Marisa Kabas shared a conversation with Healy in which she challenged the paper’s decision not to cover new rape allegations against President Donald Trump. Those allegations come from a report by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, the group in the US House of Representatives that handles legal matters.
The Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog, which covers romance fiction, published its own report on the termination under the headline “The New York Times Terminates Contract with Romance Columnist Olivia Waite After Bluesky Repost.”
For readers, the change is simple. The paper’s romance column no longer has the writer who ran it for six years. The paper has not, in the reports published so far, said what comes next for the column.
