The New York Times’ Modern Love franchise recently published and promoted a story titled “Lindy West Thought She Couldn’t Handle Polyamory. She Was Wrong,” featuring author Lindy West describing how her marriage to musician Ahamefule “Aham” J. Oluo evolved into a non-monogamous arrangement. A Daily Wire columnist criticized the piece as an attempt to normalize what he characterized as infidelity.
The New York Times’ Modern Love published a piece titled “Lindy West Thought She Couldn’t Handle Polyamory. She Was Wrong,” centered on author Lindy West’s account of navigating non-monogamy in her marriage to musician Ahamefule “Aham” J. Oluo.
In the New York Times interview, West said she initially imagined a “classic” marriage and thought she and Oluo would “probably have a baby.” She also recounted a conversation in which Oluo told her he did not think monogamy was “healthy” for him, and she said he told her he had been divorced twice by age 27 and believed “possessiveness and jealousy” contributed to those relationships ending. West said her initial reaction to the conversation was emotional, describing herself as “devastated” and crying during their early discussions.
A Daily Wire opinion essay by Tim Rice summarized and criticized West’s account. In that commentary, Rice wrote that Oluo told West it was “racist” that she, as a white woman, did not want him to have sex with other people. The columnist also wrote that Oluo “moved across the country to be with his girlfriend,” and claimed West was pressured into dating both her husband and the girlfriend.
Rice’s commentary also argued that cultural terminology has shifted from words such as “swinging” to “polyamory,” and pointed to references including Gay Talese’s book “The Neighbor’s Wife” and an early-season episode of the sitcom “Friends” involving an open marriage. The writer urged a return of social stigma toward non-monogamous arrangements, writing that it was “time to make weirdos embarrassed again.”
The Daily Wire piece did not present additional reporting beyond its own characterization and selected quotations it attributed to the New York Times interview.
