Penguin cancels plans to publish Mark Halperin book on 2016 election

In the wake of sexual harassment allegations against political journalist Mark Halperin, Penguin has announced it is halting plans to publish a book co-authored by Halperin about the 2016 election.

Due in April 2018 and co-written by John Heilemann, the book was intended to be the next installment in the Game Change franchise; the two previously wrote a 2010 book titled Game Change about the 2008 presidential election, which HBO turned into a movie.

“In light of the recent news regarding Mark Halperin, the Penguin Press has decided to cancel our plans to publish a book he was co-authoring on the 2016 election,” the company said in a statement.

The news comes just hours after HBO announced plans to halt development on a series which was to be based on the book.

Since the allegations became public Wednesday night on CNN, Halperin has stepped away from his role as a political analyst at MSNBC and will not return until “questions about his past conduct are fully understood,” according to a statement from NBC. Halperin released a statement to CNN on Wednesday, saying, “During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me. I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize.”