New Yorker Festival disinvites Stephen Bannon from headlining interview

Steve Bannon.
(Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images))

On Monday, Stephen Bannon was announced as one of the headliners at this year's New Yorker Festival, and a few hours later, he was disinvited after a number of participants dropped out of the festival. New Yorker editor David Remnick announced his decision to reverse course in an email to staff Monday evening. "The reaction on social media was critical and a lot of the dismay and anger was directed at me and my decision to engage him," Remnick said. "Some members of the staff, too, reached out to say that they objected to the invitation, particularly the forum of the festival."

Bannon, who was President Trump's campaign chairman and White House chief strategist after heading up Breitbart and Cambridge Analytica, responded with a mixture of flattery and insult. "The reason for my acceptance was simple: I would be facing one of the most fearless journalists of his generation," Remnick, he explained in a statement. "In what I would call a defining moment, David Remnick showed he was gutless when confronted by the howling online mob." In his note to his staff, Remnick said "there is a better way to do this" with Bannon and "if the opportunity presents itself I'll interview him in a more traditionally journalistic setting as we first discussed, and not on stage."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.