President Donald Trump‘s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was disinvited as a headliner of this years New Yorker Festival after at least five panelists announced via Twitter they would not participate if Bannon remained.
David Remnick, magazine’s editor in chief, rescinded Bannon’s invitation just hours after the announcement of his inclusion at the festival had led to a huge backlash online.
“The reaction on social media was critical and a lot of the dismay and anger was directed at me and my decision to engage him,” Remnick’s note said. “Some members of the staff, too, reached out to say that they objected to the invitation, particularly the forum of the festival. I don’t want well-meaning readers and staff members to think that I’ve ignored their concerns.”
Several people who were supposed to take part in the festival, including comedian John Mulaney, Patton Oswald and filmmaker Judd Apatow, said they wouldn’t attend if Bannon was there. Other prominent people, including Chelsea Clinton, tweeted that the event would be giving Bannon another platform for his ideas.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.
Actor Jim Carrey also chimed in, saying that a festival featuring Bannon and him “could never happen.”
The backlash was not limited to would-be festival attendees. The writer Roxane Gay announced that she would no longer be writing an in-progress essay that had been commissioned by the magazine. New Yorker writer Kathryn Schulz tweeted that she was “beyond appalled” at Bannon’s inclusion.
The 19th annual festival runs from Oct. 5 to Oct. 7. Bannon would have participated in a discussion entitled “The Ideology of Trumpism.”
Bannon lashed out at Remnick, calling him “gutless” for rescinding the invitation. “The reason for my acceptance was simple: I would be facing one of the most fearless journalists of his generation,” Bannon said in a statement to The New York Times. “In what I would call a defining moment, David Remnick showed he was gutless when confronted by the howling online mob.”
Vice President Kamala Harris recently released her medical records and dared former President Donald Trump to do the same.…
https://youtu.be/wEWjxbqwPQs Singer Nicky Jam withdrew his support for former President Donald Trump on Oct. 30,…
A new ad about Green Party candidate Jill Stein has been released by Vice President Kamala Harris'…
https://youtu.be/inbJpo6D4BQ Jennifer Lopez, campaigning with Kamala Harris on Oct. 31 in Nevada, said Donald Trump’s…
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn declared that the "gates of hell" would be unleashed if former…
https://youtu.be/JQCdk-71tG0 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris met with the woman who was the first in…