A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist has resigned from the Washington Put up after the newspaper refused to post a caricature satirical of the paper’s billionaire proprietor Jeff Bezos.
Ann Telnaes, a long-time Washington Put up cartoonist, created a caricature of Mr Bezos and different tycoons kneeling earlier than a statue of President-elect Donald Trump.
Ms Telnaes introduced her resignation in a Substack submit Friday: “In all that point I have by no means had a caricature killed on account of who or what I selected to attempt my pen at. Till now.”
David Shipley, the editorial web page editor on the paper, mentioned he made up our minds to not run the caricature with a view to steer clear of repetition, now not as it mocked the paper’s proprietor.
Within the caricature, Mr Bezos, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman are depicted on their knees giving luggage of money to a statue of Trump.
Mickey Mouse could also be depicted prostrate within the caricature. ABC Information – which is owned by means of Disney – final month agreed to pay $15m to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by means of Trump.
“The caricature that was once killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media leader executives who’ve been doing their highest to curry choose with incoming President-elect Trump,” Ms Telnaes wrote in her resignation announcement.
She mentioned the caricature was once satirising “those males with profitable govt contracts and an pastime in getting rid of rules”.
Ms Telnaes mentioned the Washington Put up’s refusal to run the caricature was once a “recreation changer” and described it as “unhealthy for a loose press”.
However Mr Shipley instructed the BBC his determination to not post the caricature was once on account of repetition of some other piece set to post.
“I admire Ann Telnaes and all she has given to The Put up. However I will have to disagree together with her interpretation of occasions,” he mentioned in a remark. “Now not each editorial judgment is a mirrored image of a malign pressure.”
He added: “My determination was once guided by means of the truth that we had simply printed a column at the identical subject because the caricature and had already scheduled some other column – this one a satire – for e-newsletter.”
Closing month, Mr Bezos introduced Amazon would donate $1m to Trump’s inauguration fund and make a $1m in-kind contribution.
Mr Bezos additionally described Trump’s re-election victory as “an abnormal political comeback” and dined with him on the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago place of dwelling in Florida.
The newspaper confronted a liberal backlash weeks earlier than the November presidential election after Mr Bezos interceded to forestall the editorial board endorsing Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Mr Bezos defended the transfer, however the newspaper reported it misplaced greater than 250,000 subscribers following the verdict.
The Los Angeles Instances, whose proprietor Patrick Quickly-Shiong could also be depicted within the now-killed caricature, made a an identical transfer and mentioned the newspaper would now not post its endorsement of Harris in October.
