Cartoonist quits Washington Post over rejected sketch mocking owner Jeff Bezos

The cartoon depicts Jeff Bezos, as well as Mark Zuckerberg and other media and tech moguls, kneeling and holding up bags of money before a massive Donald Trump. Photo / Ann Telnaes

An award-winning political cartoonist for the Washington Post has announced her resignation after a cartoon depicting the newspaper’s billionaire owner grovelling before United States President-elect Donald Trump was rejected.

Ann Telnaes posted on Substack late Friday local time that this was the first time she “had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at”.

The cartoon – which she included in her post – depicts Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, as well as Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and other media and tech moguls, kneeling and holding up bags of money before a massive Trump.

Also shown is a prostrated Mickey Mouse, the symbol of the Disney Company, which owns ABC News. The television network recently reached a US$15 million ($26m) settlement with Trump after he sued for defamation over reporting on his sexual abuse trial in New York.

Telnaes wrote that while previous sketches of hers had been rejected, this was the first time that had happened because of her “point of view”.

“That’s a game changer ... and dangerous for a free press,” she said.

The cartoon depicts Jeff Bezos, as well as Mark Zuckerberg and other media and tech moguls, kneeling and holding up bags of money before a massive Trump. Photo / Ann Telnaes

The Washington Post, whose slogan is “democracy dies in darkness”, said Telnaes’ work had not been rejected because of any “malign force”.

“We had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had already scheduled another column – this one a satire – for publication,” editorial page editor David Shipley said in a statement. “The only bias was against repetition.”

The US media aggressively covered Trump’s chaotic first term, which included two impeachments and ended with his refusal to recognise defeat in the 2020 election – culminating with a mob of his supporters storming Congress.

As Trump prepares for his January 20 inauguration, after having defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris in November, there are signs that top chief executives, including in the media, are eager to build good relations.

A stream of senior moguls, from Apple’s Tim Cook to Bezos and Zuckerberg, have travelled to meet Trump at his Florida estate.

Elon Musk, owner of influential social media platform X and the world’s richest person, is one of the President-elect’s closest advisers.

Elon Musk speaks to US President-elect Donald Trump at a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket. Photo / Getty Images

Amazon and Meta have both announced US$1m donations to Trump’s inauguration fund, as reportedly has Cook in a personal capacity.

Bezos caused a stir just ahead of the presidential election when he broke with years of tradition and ruled against the Post endorsing a candidate.

Telnaes, who has won the Pulitzer Prize and other awards for her work, had worked for the Post since 2008.

-Agence France-Presse