A Washington Post cartoonist announced that she left the paper this week after it rejected her cartoon of Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos groveling to President-elect Trump.
Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes wrote about her A subset of pages Friday that she resigned from that branch, accusing her of spreading the caricature because she was critical of the billionaire.
In the article, “Why I’m Leaving the Washington Post,” Telnaes said, “I’ve had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I’ve submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed for it in who or what have I pointed my pencil at so far.”
A Washington Post cartoonist has announced she is leaving the paper after her cartoon mocked Post owner Jeff Bezos. ((Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
The cartoonist shared a rough draft of the unpublished cartoon, which shows Bezos and other unspecified wealthy businessmen kneeling and raising bags of money to the incoming president. Lying on the floor next to them was Mickey Mouse, apparently a representation of Disney’s alleged subservience to Trump.
Telnaes explained her drawing, saying, “The slain cartoon criticizes billionaire, tech and media executives who have gone out of their way to ingratiate themselves with incoming President-elect Trump.”
Despite the uneasy relationship between the two over the years, Bezos expressed his support for Trump after his 2024 election victory. On the eve of Election Day, Amazon’s owner told reporters that “very optimistic” on Trump’s regulatory plan.
Bezos recently pledged to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. He also dined with the future president at his Mar-a-Lago residence in December.
Tech billionaires, including Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have supported Trump since his election day victory. (Getty Images)
Bezos also angered liberals, including Post staff, by deciding just before the election that the newspaper would not make presidential confirmation.
Other prominent tech moguls have met with Trump in the months since his victory, including Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Telnaes’ Disney reference appears to be a rip-off of the company being cited as a factor behind ABC News’ recent $15 million settlement with Trump earlier this month.
In her article for Substack, Telnaes went on to proclaim her belief that the Post suppressed the cartoon because of its political point. She wrote: “To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of a viewpoint inherent in cartoon commentary. This is a game changer…and dangerous to the free press.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE MEDIA AND CULTURE REPORTING
“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. That’s why I decided to leave the Post,” she added.
However, The Washington Post’s editorial page editor David Shipley — who admitted he made the decision to publish it himself — rejected her accusation that the Post killed the cartoon for political reasons, saying in a recent statement that he did so to avoid “repeating” the stories .
He said: “Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force. My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same subject as the cartoon and had already scheduled another column – this one satirical – for the only bias was against repetition.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Telnaes has not yet responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady and Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.
