John Heilemann, Mark Halperin's "Game Change" co-author, said he was "flabbergasted and shocked" at learning of sexual harassment allegations lodged against Halperin and says he is unsure of what the future holds for the third installment of the series, The New York Times reports.
"I had never heard of, been exposed to, or had any inkling of the notion that he had engaged in any behavior that could be described in even the broadest sense of being sexual harassment or sexual assault," Heilemann told the Times.
"I was flabbergasted and shocked," he added.
Heilemann says his partnership with Halperin is over after nine years. Penguin Press, which published the first two books in the "Game Change" series, announced last week it would cancel plans to publish the 2016 installment of the bestselling "Game Change" books after CNN reported five women said Halperin sexually harassed them while he was political director at ABC News.
HBO, which made "Game Change" into a movie starring Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin, also said it had canceled plans to produce a miniseries about the 2016 presidential election based on the book.
Heilemann said he and Halperin had conducted roughly 300 interviews for the upcoming book.
"We've done reporting that touches on important things both for history and for the current national dialogue," he said.
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