Steve Bannon no longer headlining festival after Jim Carrey, other celebs pull out
The New Yorker incited a lot of anger on Monday after it was announced that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon would be headlining the magazine’s October festival.
Jim Carrey and Judd Apatow swiftly tweeted that they would not be sharing a stage with the man who, at a party congress of France’s far-right National Front in Lille, told attendees to consider being called racist “a badge of honor.”
Bannon? And me? On the same program?
Could never happen.
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) 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
Comedian John Mulaney also opted to bow out, and pointed out that this controversial booking was added at the last minute, surprising other participants in the festival.
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
Patton Oswalt had a suggestion for someone to take his spot at the fest.
I’m out. Sorry, @NewYorker. See if Milo Yiannopoulos is free? https://t.co/pDjlZkUdfO
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 3, 2018
Apatow, who doesn’t hesitate to talk about his beliefs on Twitter, clarified beyond his initial tweet.
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
Other big names set to discuss their craft include actor Emily Blunt, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, musicians Miguel and Kacey Musgraves, and a host of other smaller names. As of this story, none have commented.
After the widespread outrage Monday, and in light of many of its headliners canceling, the New Yorker dropped plans to interview Steve Bannon.
The magazine’s editor, David Remnick, defended the choice to add Bannon to the festival lineup by saying the event wouldn’t allow Bannon to “jump on and off the record.”
“I have every intention of asking him difficult questions and engaging in a serious and even combative conversation,” Remnick told the New York Times in a phone interview. “The audience itself, by its presence, puts a certain pressure on a conversation that an interview alone doesn’t do.”
Bannon left the White House in August 2017, not long after white nationalists incited violent protests in Charlottesville, Va. After his work for President Trump, Bannon focused his attention on getting Europe’s far-right parties more power in government positions.
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