Jill Abramson Fighting Back as New York Times Publisher Denies Dismissal Due to Pay Disparity

Jill Abramson is fighting back — at least as part of her workout.

Abramson’s daughter, Cornelia Griggs, posted the below photo to Instagram of the former New York Times executive editor, whose surprise ousting from the paper this week shocked the media world. She is seen wearing boxing gloves and working out with a punching bag.

2014 NY Media Power List: Jill Abramson, David Carr and A.O. Scott

The caption reads, “Mom’s badass new hobby,” followed by the hashtags #girls and #pushy.

The photo appears to be a response to Ken Auletta‘s highly cited report in The New Yorker that Abramson was let go because of her “pushy” behavior.

The Times announced Wednesday that Abramson, the first woman to serve as executive editor, was stepping down after nearly three years in the role. She was replaced by former Los Angeles Times editor Dean Baquet, who most recently served as the New York Times‘ managing editor.

Since then, various rumors and reports have emerged about what really prompted Abramson’s abrupt dismissal, with Auletta claiming Abramson had approached Times management about her compensation after discovering that she was making less than her male predecessor Bill Keller. That confrontation, Auletta wrote, “may have fed into the management’s narrative that she was ‘pushy,’ a characterization that, for many, has an inescapably gendered aspect.”

Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., meanwhile, has denied that Abramson was being paid significantly less than her predecessors.

STORY: New York Times’ Top Editor Jill Abramson Abruptly Replaced

Sulzberger Jr. wrote in a staff memo that Abramson’s pay was “comparable to that of earlier executive editors.”

He added that neither compensation nor any discussion thereof played into his decision to ask Abramson to step down. Instead, Sulzberger said the only reason he decided to let Abramson go was “concerns I had about some aspects of Jill’s management of our newsroom, which I had previously made clear to her, both face-to-face and in my annual assessment.”

Meanwhile, the Times is working to stem any staff concerns about sexism at the company, in the wake of Auletta’s report of a pay disparity between Abramson and her male predecessors and his reference to her “pushy” personality.

Senior Times editors met with employees to reiterate the company’s rationale for dismissing Abramson, the paper reported, adding that the decision did not reflect sexism and was not about pay disparity.

Abramson is also a member of The Hollywood Reporter‘s 2014 New York media power list.

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