A Washington Post cartoonist announced she was leaving the paper this week because it rejected her cartoon of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos groveling to President-elect Trump.
Editorial cartoonist Anne Tilnes wrote about it Substack page On Friday she resigned from the outlet, accusing it of uploading the cartoons because they were critical of the billionaire.
In the article titled “Why I'm Leaving The Washington Post,” Tilnes said: “I have received editorial comments and productive conversations — and some disagreements — about the cartoons I submitted for publication, but in all that time I have never received comments about a cartoon being killed by whom or Because of what I have chosen to aim my pen at until now.”
A cartoonist for The Washington Post announced that she resigned from the newspaper after she published a cartoon mocking the newspaper's owner, Jeff Bezos. (Photo by Karway Tang/WireImage) Eric Pradat/AFP via Getty Images)
The cartoonist shared a rough draft of the unpublished cartoon, which depicted Bezos and other unidentified wealthy businessmen kneeling and holding bags of money for the incoming president. Prostrated on the ground next to them was Mickey Mouse, apparently representing Disney's supposed submission to Trump.
“The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media CEOs who were doing everything they could to curry favor with President-elect Trump,” Telnis explained her drawing by saying.
Despite the prickly relationship between the two over the years, Bezos expressed his support for Trump after he won the 2024 election. In the wake of Election Day, the Amazon owner told reporters that he “Very optimistic“On Trump’s regulatory agenda.
Bezos recently pledged to donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. He also had dinner with the incoming president at his Mar-a-Lago residence in December.
Tech billionaires, including Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have been supportive of Trump since his Election Day victory. (Getty Images)
Bezos also angered liberals, including postal employees, just before the election by deciding what the newspaper would do Not be made Presidential endorsement.
Other prominent tech moguls have met with Trump in the months following his win, including Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The Disney reference to Telnaes seems to be a dig at the company being cited As a worker Behind ABC News' recent $15 million settlement with Trump earlier this month.
In her Substack article, Telnaes went on to state her belief that The Post squashed the cartoon because of its political viewpoint. She wrote: “To be clear, there have been instances where drawings have been rejected or revisions requested, but not because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon's commentary. This is a game-changer…and dangerous for a free press.”
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She added: “As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing this crucial job. So I decided to leave the newspaper.”
However, David Shipley, the Washington Post's editorial page editor — who admitted that he made the decision to publish the cartoon himself — denied its accusation that the newspaper killed the cartoon for political reasons, saying in a recent statement that he did so to avoid “duplicating” the cartoon. story.
“Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malevolent force,” he said. “My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had already scheduled another column — this one satirical — to publish.” Publication was the only bias against replication.”
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Telnaes has not yet responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Aubrey Spady and Aislinn Murphy of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
