Washington Post cartoonist resigns following the paper's decision to remove her cartoon featuring Bezos groveling to Trump.

This week, a Washington Post cartoonist resigned from the paper after it rejected her depiction of Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and Post owner, groveling to President-elect Trump.

Ann Telnaes, an editorial cartoonist, announced her resignation from Substack on Friday, alleging that the platform spiked her cartoon because it was critical of a billionaire.

Telnaes stated in the article "Why I’m Quitting the Washington Post" that he had received feedback and had productive discussions about the cartoons he submitted for publication, but never had a cartoon rejected due to the subject matter. However, this has changed as he recently had a cartoon killed because of the person or thing he targeted with his pen.

The cartoonist revealed a preliminary version of an unpublished cartoon, featuring Bezos and other affluent businessmen kneeling and presenting money to the incoming president, with Mickey Mouse lying prostrate nearby, symbolizing Disney's supposed submission to Trump.

Telnaes described her artwork, saying, "The cartoon depicts the billionaire tech and media executives who are trying to win over President-elect Trump's favor."

Although the two have had a contentious history, Bezos has expressed support for Trump after his 2024 election victory. Following the election, Bezos stated that he was "very optimistic" about Trump's regulatory agenda.

Recently, Bezos committed to giving $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund and had dinner with the president at his Mar-a-Lago residence in December.

Just before the election, Bezos angered liberals, including Post staff, by announcing that the paper would not be endorsing a presidential candidate.

In the months after his election, Trump has met with several prominent tech CEOs, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, and Tim Cook of Apple.

It seems that Telnaes' Disney reference may be a criticism of the company being implicated in the $15 million settlement with Trump by ABC News earlier this month.

In her Substack article, Telnaes maintained that the Post suppressed her cartoon due to its political message. She stated, "It's important to note that sketches have been rejected or revisions requested in the past, but never because of the political perspective conveyed in the cartoon's commentary. This is a significant shift...and poses a threat to a free press."

"For the first time, my editor prevented me from holding powerful people and institutions accountable as an editorial cartoonist. As a result, I have decided to leave the Post," she stated.

David Shipley, the Editorial Page editor of The Washington Post, denied the accusation that the paper killed a cartoon for political reasons, stating that he made the decision to spike it to avoid repetition of a story.

Every editorial judgment is not a reflection of a malign force. My decision was influenced by the fact that we had already published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had another satire column scheduled for publication. The only bias was against repetition.

Planet Chronicle Digital has not received a response from Telnaes regarding their request for comment.

This report was contributed to by Aubrie Spady and Aislinn Murphy of Planet Chronicle Digital.