Following complaints, American Museum of Natural History cancels gala honoring Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro

A gala dinner honoring right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will no longer take place at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, following outrage by environmental groups and museum employees.

The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, which says it promotes "trade, investment, and cultural ties" between Brazil and the United States, rented space from the museum for its Person of the Year Awards Gala Dinner. Bolsonaro has said he wants to allow development in rainforests and roll back other environmental protections, and once word spread he would be honored at the event, environmental groups began pressuring the museum to cancel it.

Last week, the museum said it was "deeply concerned" to learn the gala was for Bolsonaro, and NPR reports that staffers were also pushing the museum to cancel the dinner. On Monday, the museum and Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce released a statement saying the museum is "not the optimal location" for the event. The dinner is still scheduled for May 14, though the chamber has not yet announced its new location. And the gala will still honor Bolsonaro, with the chamber saying it selected him due to his "strongly stated intention of fostering closer commercial and diplomatic ties between Brazil and the United States."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up