Jeff Bezos never wanted this cartoon to become public.
— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) January 4, 2025
He killed it, and as a result, pulitzer prize editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit.
Make sure everyone sees this cartoon. pic.twitter.com/hrvdGeowGO
A prominent cartoonist, Ann Telnaes, has announced her resignation from The Washington Post following the rejection of her editorial cartoon that depicted the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, and other media executives bowing to President-elect Donald Trump. The cartoon, which Telnaes shared on the online platform Substack, was intended as a critique of wealthy tech and media executives, including Bezos, who she believes were attempting to gain favor with Trump. In the cartoon, the executives are shown offering Trump bags of money, a representation of their attempts to curry favor with the incoming president.
Telnaes explained that the cartoon was aimed at highlighting the role of billionaire business figures, like Bezos, in seeking advantageous government contracts and working to dismantle regulations. In her statement, Telnaes criticized the media executives’ apparent willingness to align with Trump, many of whom have visited his Mar-a-Lago resort. She called the rejection of the cartoon a dangerous move for free press, emphasizing that, as an editorial cartoonist, her role was to hold powerful figures and institutions accountable.
The rejection of Telnaes’ cartoon was a pivotal moment for her, as she noted that it was the first time in her career that an editor had prevented her from conveying her intended message. “I have decided to leave the Post,” Telnaes wrote. “I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say ‘Democracy dies in darkness.’”
In response to the incident, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists condemned the Washington Post for what they termed “political cowardice.” The organization has called on other cartoonists to express their solidarity with Telnaes by sharing her rejected cartoon using the hashtag #StandWithAnn.
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