The publication of a book about the collapse of an Irish journalist’s career after he was the subject of an online allegation of sexual abuse has been put on hold following threats of defamation proceedings.
Me & #MeToo: A True Story Based on a False Story by Olaf Tyaransen was to be published in August by English publisher Eye Books. However, publication was postponed after threats of defamation proceedings were received from Hot Press and its editor, Niall Stokes, and from Wendy Lyons, a solicitor based in Dublin.
Mr Tyaransen, who was for many years a contributing editor for Hot Press, said his life “changed overnight” after a false accusation of sexual assault was posted in February 2018 by a US-based blogger, Brooke Magnanti, the author of the bestselling Belle de Jour books about life as a call girl. The accusation was widely repeated online.
The allegation was that Mr Tyaransen had in 2014 sexually assaulted Laura Lee, a sex worker who campaigned for sex workers’ rights, after interviewing her in Limerick for Hot Press.
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Ms Magnanti alleged she was told of the alleged assault at the time and said Ms Lee made a complaint to An Garda Síochána three years later, in the context of the #MeToo movement.
In the book Mr Tyaransen says he had consensual sex with Ms Lee on the night of the interview and that they remained in contact after the encounter.
In February 2018 some months after she made her complaint to gardaí in Dublin, Ms Lee died by suicide at home in Scotland. Two weeks’ later, Ms Magnanti published her allegation on US website Medium.com and disclosed the fact of the Garda complaint. No charges were ever brought against Mr Tyaransen.
Soon after the allegation was published, Hot Press issued a statement saying it had just heard of the claim.
“Olaf Tyaransen says that what has been alleged is completely untrue and that he is entirely innocent,” the statement said. “By mutual agreement, he is standing down from his work for Hot Press as of now while he deals with these allegations.”
In Me & #MeToo, Mr Tyaransen tells the story of the above events and how they ended his life as a journalist.
“His lacerating, unflinching account highlights the importance of due process, the mindless cruelty of crowds and the potentially fatal consequences of online vigilantism,” the publishers said of the book, before its intended publication.
In promotional material produced by the publisher, Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh described Mr Tyaransen’s book as a “cautionary tale” of what can happen with “internet pile-ons”, while Irish journalist Larissa Nolan described it as an exposé of “the dark side of #MeToo”.
The solicitor’s letter sent on behalf of Ms Lyons alleged that certain statements in the book were “grossly defamatory” of Ms Lyons who, it said, gave moral support and legal advice to Ms Lee when she made her complaint to An Garda Síochána.
A separate solicitor’s letter was sent to the proposed distributors of the book on behalf of Ms Lyons.
The letter sent on behalf of Mr Stokes and Hot Press complained of “completely false narratives” they alleged were contained in the narrative non-fiction book which, it said, was “grossly defamatory” of both Mr Stokes and Hot Press.
Mr Stokes and Ms Lyons did not respond to requests for comment. Eye Books also did not respond.
Mr Tyaransen said he was “shocked and surprised and disappointed” that Mr Stokes had “chosen to go down this route”. He said he was not sure why Mr Stokes was not happy with the book’s content which, he said, was not particularly critical of the magazine editor.
In the book, Mr Tyaransen records that Hot Press continued to pay him for two years after 2018 and contributed to legal fees he incurred when suing Twitter and Broadsheet.ie in relation to the sex assault allegation.
“This is my story, and I am entitled to tell it,” he said. “I’m being cancelled again.”
- This article was amended on October 8th. 2025.
