‘I am really unclear why the article claims the LDS just fessed up. This has all been public knowledge for decades or perhaps a century.’
Take a sample of 100 LDS members and see how many always knew a) that Joseph had many ladies b) that some were teens c) that a number of them were already married to other men d) that Joseph did not tell Emma. I’ll guess less than 5%.
You may be right. I always got the impression this history was open but that most carefully ignored it.
I’m not LDS, but I’ve known about much of this for decades.