Christianity Today

Update: Dinesh D'Souza has resigned as president of The King's College. See our updated story here.

In an exclusive CT interview, Dinesh D'Souza denied allegations published in World magazine that he has been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a younger woman while still legally married to his wife.

D'Souza, the president of The King's College (TKC), told CT Wednesday afternoon that World's article "has every sign of being a vendetta."

In an article published Tuesday morning, World vice president Warren Cole Smith reported that D'Souza appeared publicly at a South Carolina conference in late September with Denise Odie Joseph II and "introduced her to at least three people as his fiancée."

The problem? D'Souza is still legally married to his decades-long wife, Dixie, though living separately for two years. According to Smith's report, D'Souza told conference organizer Alex McFarland that "he shared a room with his fiancée but said 'nothing happened.'"

But D'Souza, who is also a prominent author and filmmaker of the new political documentary 2016, said that quote is "pure fabrication."

"Warren Smith never even asked me about this," D'Souza said. "Something very bizarre is going on. Either Alex McFarland is lying or Warren Smith is lying."

Prior to D'Souza's arrival at TKC, both Smith and World magazine editor-in-chief Marvin Olasky were employed at the college. Olasky served as provost but resigned soon after D'Souza's selection as president.

"There is no question that there was a bitterness in Marvin's resignation," D'Souza said.

Smith formerly worked for TKC as an editorial consultant, but D'Souza ended Smith's contract shortly after he arrived.

"The approach in the article ... is a clear effort to destroy me and my career," D'Souza said. "To me, that is a kind of viciousness masquerading as righteousness. That's what makes this deplorable and sad."

Smith said any speculation that World published its report as a vendetta against D'Souza and TKC is irresponsible.

"It is simply not true," Smith said. "It's a story we did not pursue, but once we came across it, we made a pretty straightforward journalistic determination that this is a newsworthy story."

Smith said conference organizers McFarland and Tony Beam observed D'Souza's "highly irregular" behavior and shared the information with Smith, who was speaking at the same event.

Neither McFarland nor Beam could be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Smith said World's decision to pursue the story was journalistic in nature.

"The way we made the ultimate decision was by asking this question: If it was the president of some other Christian college, would we pursue this story?" he said.

D'Souza denied ever telling Smith or McFarland that he and Joseph shared a room and that "'nothing happened.'"

"The article is structured to avoid any sense that there was an enduring marital separation and give the impression that I, a married guy, was carrying on an affair, and passing off this woman as my fiancee, and when it was exposed, I rushed to file for divorce that very day," he said.

D'Souza said he initiated the divorce process several weeks prior to the conference, but the prospect of divorce actually had been ongoing for almost two years. D'Souza said his wife approached him about a divorce in 2010, shortly before he assumed his position at TKC. Since then, he moved to New York City (TKC is located in Manhattan), she remained in California, and the two have "been living in a state of separation."

See comments

Single Page

Page:12Next