Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer
Ann Telnaes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, resigned from The Washington Post after the paper refused to publish her satire depicting billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, bowing to a statue of Donald Trump. Critics speculated that the decision was influenced by Bezos, the newspaper’s owner, although editorial page editor David Shipley denied this, stating the cartoon was withheld to avoid harming the Post’s reputation.
Telnaes, who had worked at the Post since 2008, called the rejection a “game changer” and accused the paper of endangering press freedom. On Substack, she wrote, “In all that time, I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at.”
Her resignation has reignited debates about editorial independence and freedom of the press.
