Overview
- Roughly 180 scheduled participants, including Zadie Smith and Jacinda Ardern, withdrew after Randa Abdel‑Fattah was disinvited.
- The Adelaide Festival board apologized to Abdel‑Fattah, announced mass resignations, and scrapped the 2026 Writers’ Week program.
- Abdel‑Fattah rejected the apology as disingenuous and said it wrongly tied her to the Bondi attack.
- Her lawyers issued a defamation concerns notice to Premier Peter Malinauskas over his public comments, starting the 28‑day pre‑litigation process.
- Malinauskas acknowledged sharing his view on Abdel‑Fattah’s inclusion but denied pressuring the board, as the wider festival moves to refresh governance.