The Academy has since admitted that it has known about at least some of the allegations against Arnault since 1996, but that it did nothing about them then, which has roiled tensions and caused rifts among members. According to Swedish news site The Local, six of the 18 members of the Academy have resigned or taken leave because of the scandal and several "regularly trade ugly barbs" in the press. In May, the Academy announced that in light of its "currently diminished" membership, and the general public's "reduced confidence," it would not be awarding a prize for 2018. Instead, two laureates will be announced in 2019. [Source: Vogue]

Three members quit Swedish Academy as row splits Nobel-awarding body | The Local  - April 2018 |

The Swedish Academy has been rocked by a series of rows over a scandal that emerged last year, when several women accused a man - who is not a household name in Sweden but has strong ties to the Academy and is a well-known figure on Stockholm's cultural scene - of sexual abuse and harassment.

It sparked a crisis on the Academy committee, which decided to cut all ties and funding to the man - who has been referred to as "the culture profile" in Swedish media - with immediate effect.

The Academy said at the time that it had potentially broken its own rules regulating conflict of interest and appointed a legal firm to investigate its committee members' ties to the man in question.

Renowned author Klas Östergren stepped down in the afternoon, followed in quick succession by fellow members of the Academy Kjell Espmark and Peter Englund.