New Yorker Festival Drops Steve Bannon From Speaker Lineup Amid Backlash

The news comes after Judd Apatow, Jim Carrey, Patton Oswalt and John Mulaney all tweeted that they were canceling their scheduled appearances at the event.

After news that Steve Bannon will be a featured speaker at the upcoming New Yorker Festival drew sharp criticism from numerous bold-faced names, the fest has dropped Bannon as a speaker.

The news came after several famous faces, including Judd Apatow, Jim Carrey, Patton Oswalt and John Mulaney, all tweeted that they were canceling their scheduled appearances at the event.

The New Yorker tweeted late Monday that Bannon had been dropped from the lineup and that it was New Yorker editor David Remnick's decision.

Remnick put out a statement Monday that he had decided to drop Bannon from the speaker lineup.

"I don’t want well-meaning readers and staff members to think that I’ve ignored their concerns," he said. "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."

He also explained his rationale for originally including Bannon on the lineup.

"The main argument for not engaging someone like Bannon is that we are giving him a platform and that he will use it, unfiltered, to propel further the 'ideas' of white nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism and illiberalism," he said. "But to interview Bannon is not to endorse him. By conducting an interview with one of Trumpism’s leading creators and organizers, we are hardly pulling him out of obscurity. Ahead of the mid-term elections and with 2020 in sight, we’d be taking the opportunity to question someone who helped assemble Trumpism."

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

Later Monday evening, Bannon lashed out at Remnick, calling him "gutless" for rescinding the invitation.

"The reason for my acceptance was simple: I would be facing one of the most fearless journalists of his generation," Bannon said in a statement to The New York Times.

He added: "In what I would call a defining moment, David Remnick showed he was gutless when confronted by the howling online mob."

Event organizers announced the lineup of speakers early Monday, including Apatow, Mulaney, John Krasinski, Jack Antonoff, Oswalt, Christine Baranski, Zadie Smith, Carrey, Jimmy Fallon and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

But the speaker drawing the most attention on social media was Bannon, the controversial former White House chief strategist who served as executive chairman of the right-leaning Breitbart News before joining Donald Trump's campaign as chief executive in August 2016. He exited his White House position a year later.

Bannon was set to take part in a talk with Remnick titled "The Ideology of Trumpism" on Oct. 5, the first day of the three-day New Yorker Festival.

The news was met with criticism on social media from many famous faces, including Hollywood A-listers like Apatow and Ava DuVernay and The New Yorker's own staff.

For his part, Remnick earlier told The New York Times: "I have every intention of asking him difficult questions and engaging in a serious and even combative conversation. The audience itself, by its presence, puts a certain pressure on a conversation that an interview alone doesn't do. You can't jump on and off the record."

Still, TV and movie producer Aditya Sood noted that Bannon was previously featured on the festival's main page but had since been removed.

Later Monday, Oswalt, Apatow, Carrey and Mulaney tweeted separately that they were going to pull out of their planned appearances.

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

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

Bannon? And me? On the same program? Could never happen. — Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) September 3, 2018

Not long after the New Yorker said it was dropping Bannon, Fallon also tweeted that he was pulling out.

Antonoff, another scheduled speaker, tweeted that he didn't know Bannon was going to be included and "would have appreciated" a head's up.

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

A rep for Oswalt tells The Hollywood Reporter that he hasn't been rebooked since backing out, while Apatow's rep confirms that he will attend now that Bannon is no longer participating in the festival. THR has also reached out to reps for Mulaney, Carrey and Fallon.

Read some of the other criticism below.

I can’t believe so many people are willing to appear at event where Steve Bannon will be headlining. And I can’t believe @NewYorker invited him in the first place. https://t.co/ofdATThcGm — roxane gay (@rgay) September 3, 2018

Lifelong reader @NewYorker but must now cancel my subscription. This is not something I can support. https://t.co/4z7QMw7EUa — Chris Nee (@chrisdocnee) September 3, 2018

He created an online home for white nationalists to groom and grow their violent base. He cemented his destructive white supremacist views into the DNA of the White House. Now, New Yorker is selling tickets to see him headline. And here we are, folks. https://t.co/JyK8J13Zko — Ava DuVernay (@ava) September 3, 2018

For anyone who wonders what normalization of bigotry looks like, please look no further than Steve Bannon being invited by both @TheEconomist & @NewYorker to their respective events in #NYC a few weeks apart. https://t.co/u0TDfCYrQ1 — Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) September 3, 2018

I love working for @NewYorker, but I'm beyond appalled by this: https://t.co/WlZdsBpF1R I have already made that very clear to David Remnick. You can, too: themail@newyorker.com — Kathryn Schulz (@kathrynschulz) September 3, 2018

Come ON, @NewYorker. The only person who should be interviewing Steve Bannon is Robert Mueller. — Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) September 3, 2018

I have always seen the New Yorker as the kind of publication to investigate Bannon's horrific behavior and positions...not welcome him for a chat on-stage — Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 3, 2018

while Steve Bannon is an odd choice to appear at the New Yorker Festival at least they didn't invite someone truly reprehensible like an actor who works part time at Trader Joes — Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) September 3, 2018

I'm gonna interview cancer to just find out why it wants to kill you so bad. Come and hear it out!https://t.co/PveuWCqkpV — amber ruffin (@ambermruffin) September 3, 2018

Cool. Was Louis CK not available? https://t.co/i820MyLBVO — James Urbaniak (@JamesUrbaniak) September 3, 2018

The normalization of white supremacy is a cancer that continues to grow in our country. Steve Bannon should never be given the prestigious platform of The New Yorker Festival. He is a hate-filled bigot. Period. — Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) September 3, 2018

Sept. 3, 2:47 p.m. Added Apatow and Mulaney's statements that they were pulling out of the event.

Sept. 3, 3:12 p.m. Added Carrey's statement that he is pulling out of the event.

Sept. 3, 3:26 p.m. Added Oswalt's statement that he is pulling out of the event.

Sept. 3, 3:36 p.m. Added that the New Yorker Festival was dropping Bannon from the event.

Sept. 3, 6:43 p.m. Added Bannon's statement to The New York Times

Sept. 4, 11:43 a.m. Added statements to THR from Oswalt and Apatow's reps.