Steve Bannon is headlining the New Yorker Festival and readers are outraged

2025-04-27 23:12:01admin

Update: The New Yorker has disinvited Steve Bannon from the New Yorker Festival.

Proving time is a flat circle and no one ever learns anything, a scheduled appearance by former Donald Trump advisor and Breitbart mastermind Steve Bannon has generated huge backlash for the organizers of an event.

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This time, though, the culprit is The New Yorker, the traditionally staid publication which has slated Bannon as a keynote guest for its annual New Yorker Festival scheduled for Oct. 5 to Oct. 7.

Bannon will appear alongside a wide range of guests, from author Haruki Murakami to activist Brittany Packnett to Parkland student and gun control advocate David Hogg. But the chatter is all about Bannon.

The sit-down with editor David Remnick is advertised as a conversation about "the ideology of Trumpism," certainly a topic of great interest to the New Yorker,which has covered the Trump administration with a sharp, critical eye.

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But giving a platform to Bannon and his white nationalist views has generated a lot of buzz.

And, boy, are people pissed.

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Some, including prominent readers, are even threatening to cancel their New Yorkersubscription over the decision.

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While several staffers have tweeted about Monday's festival announcements, it appears only staff writer Kathryn Schultz has directly addressed Bannon as of Monday afternoon, criticizing the decision.

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Editor David Remnick, who will be interviewing Bannon, tried to get ahead of the controversy in a chat with the New York Timestied to the festival announcement, saying he was willing to be "combative."

“I have every intention of asking him difficult questions and engaging in a serious and even combative conversation,” Mr. Remnick said in a phone interview.

“The audience itself, by its presence, puts a certain pressure on a conversation that an interview alone doesn’t do,” he added. “You can’t jump on and off the record.”

Mashablereached out to the New Yorkerfor more on the decision to book Bannon and the backlash, and will update this article if the publication responds.

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