Android creator Andy Rubin says the 'wild' sexual misconduct allegations against him are a 'smear campaign'
- Android creator Andy Rubin has said The New York Times report about his alleged sexual misconduct at Google is part of a "smear campaign."
- The Times reported that Rubin coerced a woman, with whom he was having an extramarital affair, into giving him oral sex in a hotel room in 2014.
- The newspaper said Rubin was handed an exit package of $90 million after he was asked to hand in his resignation.
- Rubin said the report contained "numerous inaccuracies" and was designed to "disparage" him during a divorce and custody battle.
Andy Rubin, the man who created Android for Google, has rubbished a New York Times report about his alleged sexual misconduct at the company and his $90 million exit deal.
The Times said Rubin was asked to resign from Google in 2014 after an internal investigation found that he had had an extramarital affair with an employee, and coerced her into performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013.
The Times also reported that Rubin was given a "hero's farewell" and an exit package worth $90 million, which was paid in instalments of about $2 million over four years.
Rubin strongly denied the claims in two tweets on Thursday evening. He said they were a smear campaign designed to damage his name as part of a divorce and custody battle with his ex-wife Rie Rubin.
"The New York Times story contains numerous inaccuracies about my employment at Google and wild exaggerations about my compensation. Specifically, I never coerced a woman to have sex in a hotel room," he wrote.
"These false allegations are part of a smear campaign to disparage me during a divorce and custody battle. Also, I am deeply troubled that anonymous Google executives are commenting about my personnel file and misrepresenting the facts."
Rubin and his ex-wife were divorced in August, according to the Times. In a civil suit this month, she claimed that he had multiple "ownership relationships" with other women during their marriage, in which he paid them hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Times reports.
In response to a request for comment, Google sent Business Insider the memo written by CEO Sundar Pichai on Thursday. He said the company has fired 48 people for sexual harassment in the past two years, and that none of them received an exit package.