Steve Bannon New Yorker Festival interview pulled following backlash & cancellations

September 3, 2018

The New Yorker Festival has cancelled a headlining talk with former Donald Trump chief strategist and Breitbart founder Steve Bannon following backlash, and a series of cancellations from people on the lineup. New Yorker publisher David Remnick wrote a memo to staff, saying that he’d “changed his mind” about doing the interview:

I don’t want well-meaning readers and staff members to think that I’ve ignored their concerns. I’ve thought this through and talked to colleagues – and I’ve re-considered. I’ve changed my mind. There is a better way to do this. Our writers have interviewed Steve Bannon for The New Yorker before, and if the opportunity presents itself I’ll interview him in a more traditionally journalistic setting as we first discussed, and not on stage.

Read Remnick’s memo in full below.

UPDATE: Remnick made an additional statement to readers about cancelling the interview, which you can read in full below as well.

Prior to the memo’s release, Judd Apatow, John Mulaney, Jack Antonoff, Patton Oswalt, and Jim Carey each took to twitter to drop off the festival. Read their tweets below.

Remnick memo to staff: pic.twitter.com/Av4bH6dxp1

— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) September 3, 2018

pic.twitter.com/7Pncc7uuj2

— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) September 3, 2018

And the buried lede: pic.twitter.com/qRJ03znojs

— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) September 3, 2018

A statement from David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, explaining his decision to no longer include Steve Bannon in the 2018 New Yorker Festival. pic.twitter.com/opayiw5GQ2

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) September 3, 2018

If Steve Bannon is at the New Yorker festival I am out. I will not take part in an event that normalizes hate. I hope the @NewYorker will do the right thing and cancel the Steve Bannon event. Maybe they should read their own reporting about his ideology.

— Judd Apatow 🇺🇦 (@JuddApatow) September 3, 2018

He can speak as much as he likes. Let him go rant in Central Park. No business is obligated to interview hateful people. Plenty of people weren’t invited. They have the freedom to make that choice. I have the freedom to refuse to share a festival with him. https://t.co/sWr0kSR6ib

— Judd Apatow 🇺🇦 (@JuddApatow) September 3, 2018

I’m out. I genuinely support public intellectual debate, and have paid to see people speak with whom I strongly disagree. But this isn’t James Baldwin vs William F Buckley. This is PT Barnum level horseshit. And it was announced on a weekend just before tix went on sale. https://t.co/oYk1llNgvV

— John Mulaney (@mulaney) September 3, 2018

I apologize to Susan Morrison as I was really looking forward to our conversation. And I look forward to future @NewYorker Fests & other public, even heated, debates between different voices. But hard pass on this amateur-night sonofabitch.

— John Mulaney (@mulaney) September 3, 2018

i’m no longer going to be speaking/performing at the new yorker festival as long as steve bannon is there

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) September 3, 2018

found out about brannon’s inclusion when you did. i would have appreciated to make a decision on this before it was announced. i would ask the new yorker to consider in the future that participants in the festival deserve to make a choice to appear alongside someone this hateful

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) September 3, 2018

i always saw the new yorker festival as a wonderful moment to celebrate culture. so when they told me it would kacey musgraves, zadie smith and mike birbiglia etc – i was all in. steve bannon — respectfully that’s a full no for me and normalization of white supremacy

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) September 3, 2018