Earlier in the day, it was announced that Steve Bannon would be headlining the upcoming New Yorker Festival.
By Monday evening that was no longer true. The cause of the magazine's reversal was backlash from readers, as well as other festival speakers (including Judd Apatow, John Mulaney, Jack Antonoff, and Jim Carrey) stating that they wouldn't be at the event if Bannon was also attending:
"I have every intention of asking him difficult questions and engaging in a serious and even combative conversation," Remnick previously explained about the decision to interview the ex-Trump official. "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."
As for Remnick's statement explaining the change of heart? Well, like a lot of things in The New Yorker, it was pretty long, but the editor cited pressure from social media, as well as his own staff.
You can read the entire statement below:
