Kristin Knouse’s reputation has suffered after her account of a consensual relationship with a prominent professor became the center of a major #MeToo controversy.
But the Massachusetts Institute of Technology assistant professor has shown no sign of backing down over her treatment of cancer researcher David Sabatini. A Massachusetts court recently found her liable for defamation after she accused him of sexual misconduct following the end of their relationship.
Approached Monday at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research in Cambridge and asked for a response, Knouse, 38, instead criticized Sabatini, whose career was severely damaged by the allegations.
“I am the target of a massive smear campaign and getting death threats,” she said after removing her earphones.
“I don’t want to talk to anybody.”
When asked who she believed was responsible for the alleged campaign, Knouse replied: “He sent a mob after me, and a lot of your publications are too. I’ve been getting death threats because of the press that’s been circulating. I’m not comfortable speaking to anybody.”
Kristin Knouse is pictured in Boston on Monday. A Massachusetts court ordered her to pay David Sabatini $10 million after finding her liable for defamation, but she continues to reject his account of events
When approached by the Daily Mail at MIT on Monday, Knouse launched a fresh criticism of Professor David Sabatini
Knouse’s comments came after a Massachusetts court found her liable for defaming Sabatini and ordered her to pay $10 million. Interest has continued to accrue on the judgment.
Speaking to the Daily Mail on Tuesday afternoon, Sabatini denied Knouse’s latest accusations.
“I certainly have not sent any mob against her,” he said.
Sabatini added that he was “sad to hear” Knouse was receiving death threats and stressed that no one should face such abuse.
He said he had attempted to reach a settlement earlier in the legal proceedings, adding: “She knows that I tried to fix this and she didn’t want that, so I don’t think it’s justified that she keeps attacking me.”
Sabatini spoke after the Daily Mail photographed Knouse leaving her downtown Boston apartment Monday morning on her way to work.
Knouse, who intends to appeal the defamation verdict, appeared distressed as she crossed the city’s historic Common.
A photograph of Kristin Knouse and David Sabatini during their relationship contrasts with the later legal dispute, in which a jury found that she defamed him by portraying their romance as coercive and inappropriate
Knouse is seen heading to work Monday morning. She is an assistant professor of biology at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, the institution Sabatini left after the controversy
Knouse looked at her phone after collecting a package on her way to work. The court’s finding has fueled intense online criticism in recent days
Knouse has faced mounting online criticism after the Daily Mail obtained a series of documents from the defamation case.
The records describe how she began a relationship with Sabatini after he became her mentor.
Texts included in the court filings show Knouse telling Sabatini that she “really liked sex to be hard” during their casual relationship, which began in April 2018 and ended in January 2020.
During a recorded deposition, Sabatini’s lawyer Lisa Arrowood asked Knouse about the message. Knouse replied: “I imagine I would say that I was open to more, rougher, sex.”
She was also questioned about a message to a friend in which she said she wanted to “feel like I’ve been gang raped” after a demanding leg workout.
The deposition also included Knouse’s admission that she had once pursued Sabatini “aggressively” for sex during a hotel stay. She said she had jokingly used the phrase “#HeToo” to describe her conduct.
Knouse appears in an MIT headshot. She began a relationship with her mentor, David Sabatini, in 2018 and later accused him of coercive and inappropriate conduct after the relationship ended
Knouse appears in an MIT publicity video and remains at the university as calls grow for Sabatini to be reinstated
In January 2020, Sabatini told Knouse he planned to pursue a relationship with a former partner living in Germany.
According to the court documents, Knouse then reported him to the Whitehead Institute for sexual harassment, claiming she had felt unable to reject advances from her powerful supervisor. The jury later found her liable for defamation.
Sabatini’s 25-year scientific career was soon thrown into turmoil, while messages showed Knouse discussing the impact of the allegations with friends.
In one message, she expressed a desire to have her former partner “Weinstein-ed out of science.”
The phrase referred to disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, whose downfall followed numerous allegations of sexual harassment and abuse and helped propel the #MeToo movement.
Sabatini was subsequently forced to leave the Whitehead Institute.
He stepped down from MIT in March 2021 after university leaders recommended revoking his tenure, a move that would have enabled his dismissal.
A group of students and faculty at New York University later protested against a position offered to Sabatini, prompting the university to withdraw the offer.
Sabatini has told the Daily Mail that, during the darkest period of his ordeal, he attempted to hang himself.
Although he prevailed in his defamation case, he says the experience continues to affect him deeply.
“This has completely destroyed me and completely changed my life,” he said last week.
“Nothing that remained from before is still operating. Everything is gone.”
Sabatini now works as a research group leader at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry in Prague.
The institute has also opened a laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near MIT, where Sabatini works.
Last week, scientists from 33 institutions signed an open letter urging MIT to reinstate Sabatini following the civil court ruling against Knouse.
They argued that evidence presented during the case seriously undermined the credibility of Knouse’s allegations.
Ruth Lehmann, director of the Whitehead Institute, is pictured walking her dog near her $5.2 million Boston home on Tuesday. She declined to comment on calls for Sabatini’s reinstatement
MIT has so far refused to change its position.
The university has directed the Daily Mail and other outlets to a 2022 statement saying Sabatini’s tenure was revoked because he violated MIT’s policy on consensual relationships.
MIT has not indicated whether it plans to take action against Knouse, who remains at the university despite the allegations and subsequent civil judgment.
It remains uncertain how MIT could bring Sabatini back while retaining Knouse in her current position, as both researchers work in related scientific fields.
The decision ultimately rests with Ruth Lehmann, who has led the Whitehead Institute since 2020 and oversaw its investigation into Knouse’s allegations.
Approached outside her $5.2 million red-brick townhouse in Boston on Tuesday, Lehmann gave a terse “no comment” when asked whether Sabatini would be offered his former position.
As pressure grows for MIT and the Whitehead Institute to address the case, Lehmann may soon face demands for a fuller explanation.