Cartoonist quits Washington Post over rejected sketch mocking owner Jeff Bezos

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.

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

Cartoonist quits Washington Post over rejected sketch mocking owner Jeff Bezos