Worcester’s “40 Under Forty” event postponed after assault at meeting no one is talking about

The Worcester Business Journal has announced that it needs to delay its largest event of the year, its annual 40 Under Forty event, set for September 13th, and publication of the Journal edition of winners, after an apparent assault at a pre-publication gathering of this year’s award winners. 

The incident has been surrounded in privacy, occurring back in July, and described by the publication as an event that “gathers the honorees for portrait and group photography, an event designed to be “fun” and “slightly zany.” No police report, or social media posts describing details have been seen on any platform. And, for now, the WBJ is silent about it all.

The July event was a gathering of the winners in this Central Massachusetts competition, for a photo shoot so professional announcements could be made leading up to the honors ceremony. The event is similar to the 40 Under 40 of Providence Business News and other business publications hold around this time of year, and is a heralding event among the up and coming professionals.

WBJ’s only public statement:

Brad Kane, editor of the Worcester Business Journal has written that “there was an assault, and the police are actively investigating the incident. WBJ is fully cooperating with the police, providing whatever the investigators need in their efforts, which at this point includes not disclosing any more details. The safety of our event attendees is paramount to WBJ’s core values, and we are dumbfounded, outraged, and devastated this happened.”

Kane goes on to say it is “given the seriousness of the matter” that the 40 Under Forty event is being postponed and “…now our top priorities are supporting in every way possible the person most impacted by the assault, as well as assisting the police in the investigation. Everything else seems trivial.”

Saying that after discussion with others around the country, that events like this are occurring more and more frequently, the Journal acknowledges that “Our eyes have been opened to a dark undercurrent in our society most would prefer not to discuss openly.”

As journalists and a media organization, we are firm in our commitment to bring these topics out of the shadows. We plan to do this comprehensively, transparently, and sensitively. Yet, with the incident from our July event still under investigation, now is not the appropriate time to do so. These are conversations that need to be had, and they will be had. Some alarm bells are hard to hear, but this one is ringing in our ears. We all need to learn how to recognize the sound and be able to respond.”

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette contacted Kane by phone who said he would not comment beyond what he wrote in the column due to the ongoing investigation. “Everything else seems trivial,” he said.

A Worcester police spokesman could not immediately provide further details.

No Worcester media outlet is running details of the incident with the Worcester Business Journal.

Public nearly silent about details

WBJ’s linked in page simply says: “We remain committed to honoring the Class of 2023 members in all their glory, but we will do so at a more appropriate time”.

Public Comments:

From LinkedIn:

Shedding not much more light – or transparency – on the incident:

Another comment posted on WBJ’s website asked, “I’m sorry for aĺl victims of this event hope all goes well for all of them. If the rumor mill/fake news actors start cranking out true and/or false information, does WBJ have a plan to address the matter either publicly or privately?”

Worcester Telegram:

“An assault at the photoshoot for Worcester’s “40 under 40” defines what the city has become. If this were an attack by a random person on a member of the group, it would have been front page news in July. The fact that this has has been covered-up for over a month…I’m guessing this was a “40 on 40″ crime.”

“So, this has been covered up since sometime in July, and this is still all the public is being told? I’d love to see a comprehensive list of all who were in attendance. It’s never the little people who can get things quashed in the media, especially at such a local level.”

This is a developing story.