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Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes announced her resignation from The Washington Post following the newspaper’s decision to reject one of her cartoons.
Telnaes, who has been with The Washington Post since 2008, made the announcement Friday evening in a Substack post, citing the rejection of her cartoon depicting Post owner Jeff Bezos bending before a statue of President-elect Donald Trump.
The cartoon also featured Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Disney mascot Mickey Mouse.
“I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now.” Telnaes wrote in the post.
Telnaes described the decision to kill her cartoon as a “game changer” and “dangerous for a free press.”
David Shipley, the opinions editor for The Washington Post, defended the decision, stating it was not motivated by bias but by editorial considerations. Shipley explained that the newspaper had recently published a column addressing the same topic as Telnaes’ cartoon and had another satire piece scheduled for publication. “The only bias was against repetition,” Shipley said in a statement.
Shipley added that he respected Telnaes’ contributions to the newspaper and had spoken with her on Friday, urging her to reconsider her resignation.
Her resignation has drawn criticism from fellow cartoonists, including Matt Wuerker of Politico, who called the decision to reject her work “spineless.” Wuerker invoked the legacy of legendary Post cartoonist Herbert Block, known as Herblock, and former Post editor Ben Bradlee, saying they would be “spinning, kicking, and screaming in their graves.”
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