You probably haven't heard of Jason Arday. He's a professor at the University of Cambridge, who made history with his appointment. Arday was born to Ghanaian immigrant parents in London and was diagnosed with autism at age three. According to the New York Times, Arday didn't speak until he was 12 and didn't learn to read or write until he was 18.
When he was appointed professor at the University of Cambridge, he was 37 years old and the youngest black professor in the institution's history. The media in the UK and the US fawned over Arday and his accomplishments, which include running 30 marathons in 35 days to raise money for charity and relearning the contents of his dissertation after surgery to remove a benign brain tumor damaged his memory.
His autobiography, "Great and Unfortunate Things," will be published next week by Simon & Schuster, and the impending launch has brought scrutiny to his academic integrity and his fantastical claims. Last week, a scholar levied charges of plagiarism against Arday. Even the New York Times tries to dismiss these claims as a "smear" by a "scholar known for racist views about intelligence," but the questions are now too big to ignore.
It took the New York Times until the 19th paragraph to admit that dozens of passages in Arday's thesis appear to be plagiarized.
The NY Times quotes Jason Arday about a "dark arts" campaign against him, gives a long backstory, smears the person who first reported the scandal, and only then, in the nineteenth paragraph, mentions that, yes, dozens of passages in his thesis appear to be plagiarized. pic.twitter.com/wsdvPDQ16b
— John Sailer (@JohnDSailer) August 4, 2026
There are also accusations that the problems go beyond plagiarism and into downright fraud. Including interviews Arday claims he did that could not have happened.
I don't want to pile on to the Cambridge situation, but media coverage saying "plagiarism" are really missing the boat. There is pretty obvious fraud - literally claiming he did interviews that couldn't have happened and so on - in like every paper of his that I looked at. 1/4
— Kevin A. Bryan (@Afinetheorem) August 4, 2026
Jonathan Pallesen, who has a PhD in statistical genetics, called Arday's actions "scientific fraud" and called for his ouster.
This is the most important aspect: Jason Arday committed scientific fraud. He must go.
— Jonatan Pallesen (@jonatanpallesen) August 4, 2026
And so must the leaders at Cambridge who support him after it is revealed that he has committed fraud.
This includes among others Sonita Alleyne, the Master of the college at U. of Cambridge… https://t.co/QZpbhj95Bw pic.twitter.com/X69Z6aIWxN
"This is the most important aspect: Jason Arday committed scientific fraud. He must go," Pallesen wrote on X. "And so must the leaders at Cambridge who support him after it is revealed that he has committed fraud. This includes, among others, Sonita Alleyne, the Master of the college at U. of Cambridge in which Jason Arday is employed. She stands in 'unwavering solidarity' of Jason Arday."
But the story has taken a dark turn as Arday has sicced police on a journalist investigating these claims.
Suddenly this story isn’t so funny any more. https://t.co/g8tvFQMuBp
— Gareth Roberts (@OldRoberts953) August 4, 2026
Jack Grove, a reporter for Times Higher Education (THE), was investigated by Scotland Yard for doing his job. Arday apparently knew exactly what to say to police, too, telling them the investigation was harming his mental health and he was being harassed.
My god. The U.K., man...
— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) August 4, 2026
A journalist asked Arday about his fraud/plagiarism/issues, and Arday went to the police claiming that he was being harassed.
So, citing Arday likely lying about the journalist's actions hurting his mental health, they told the journalist to back off. https://t.co/2QTQNb09wn pic.twitter.com/Uzwr3TnHRO
Here's more (emphasis added):
Mr. Grove told The Telegraph he was "stunned" to receive a phone call from the police to be told he had been investigated simply for doing his job.
He said: "I was told a complaint had been made against me and investigated, but the force was not taking it forward. The officer told me that I shouldn't contact Professor Arday again because his mental health had been affected by my actions.
"I asked him what I had done, and he said there had been online posts about Professor Arday. I said I'd never posted anything about him and asked him if he realized he was speaking to a journalist who was investigating a story. He didn't really respond but repeated his request for me not to contact Professor Arday again, citing his mental health.
"I was just doing my job. Journalists should be free to ask questions of anyone, even star professors."
And it turns out the investigation into Grove lasted four months, and that Arday's lawyers sent a letter to THE claiming Grove's investigation was "racially motivated."
Wow. If you thought lawfare was bad in America, Britain just took it to an entirely new level. Police spent four months investigating a reporter for the crime of emailing questions to that Cambridge “academic” caught serially plagiarizing. https://t.co/M4U8VTRl6a pic.twitter.com/oxUj5pi98I
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) August 4, 2026
This is Orwellian.
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