Washington Post cartoonist resigns after Bezos drawing, Trump and other billionaires hit back

A The Washington Post cartoonist quit his role at the paper, saying his bosses blocked the publication of a satirical cartoon featuring billionaires, including one who resembled the Post owner. Jeff Bezoskneeling before the president-elect Donald Trump.

Ann TelnaesThe Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist said in a blog post Friday that he get out of the paper after the drawing was rejected. Telnaes writes that it was the first time at the Post that a cartoon was “killed because of who or what I chose to point my pen at.”

A rough cartoon sketch posted on Telnaes’ Substack blog shows several men kneeling in front of a larger man wearing a suit and long tie, representing Trump. Telnaes wrote that there are similarities Meta platforms CEO Mark ZuckerbergOpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Los Angeles Times Publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong and Bezos. Three of the men are holding wallets. Also includes an image of the cartoon character Mickey Mouse Walt DisneyABC News.

The drawing was rejected by the paper without any suggestions for potential changes, Telnaes told CNBC in an email.

Washington Post editorial page editor David Shipley said in a statement that the cartoon was rejected not because of who it targeted, but because of its similarity to the newspaper’s columns.

“I respect Ann Telnaes and everything she has contributed to The Post. But I have to disagree with her interpretation of events. Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malevolent force. I made my decision based on the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and already another column. – this satire – scheduled for publication.

The cartoonist’s departure comes amid controversy over how the media and corporate executives should behave. They treated Trumpboth before and after the November election.

The The Washington Post reported Bezos jumped Planned endorsement of Trump’s opponent Kamala Harris By the newspaper on the eve of the presidential elections. At the Los Angeles Times, Soon-Shiong also decided the paper was needed stop any confirmation prompted the resignation of several editorial board members in the presidential race.

Meanwhile, ABC News has settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump 15 million dollarsdrew criticism from some media law experts who thought the news organization had a strong case.

Bezos and Zuckerberg planned to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund through Meta. The Wall Street Journal reported last monthand has been among several billionaires to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home since winning the election. Many outlets reported OpenAI’s Altman as well He donated 1 million dollars to the inaugural fund.

Sen. Elizabeth WarrenD-Mass., was taken About Telnaes’ resignation at X, saying the cartoon was “worth sharing”: “Big Tech executives are knee-jerk for Donald Trump, and it’s no wonder why: Billionaires like Jeff Bezos like to pay a lower tax rate than a public school teacher. “

Telnaes’ departure is the latest in a series of internal shakeups at the Post. Publisher and CEO Will Lewis took over the paper last year and clashed with the newsroom. NPR reported about it. After Lewis took over, several of the paper’s top editors left.

Telnaes won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. He wrote in his blog that he has been working at the Post since 2008.