Bari Weiss on Real Time With Bill Maher. (Photo by Janet Van Ham / HBO) This morning, New York Times editor and “How to Fight Anti-Semitism” author Bari Weiss announced that she is resigning from the publication.
“My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views,” Weiss wrote in her resignation letter. “They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m ‘writing about the Jews again.'”
In her resignation letter Weiss claims that she was frequently bullied by coworkers on the company Slack channel and publicly harassed without any appropriate action. She calls the behavior “unlawful discrimination,” “hostile work environment” and “constructive discharge. Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times,” Weiss wrote. “But Twitter has become its ultimate editor.”
On Twitter, the response to Weiss’s resignation was swift.
“If someone like @bariweiss feels like she can’t do her best work at the @nytimes they should make some real changes over there,” former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who Weiss wrote an op-ed about, tweeted.
If someone like @bariweiss feels like she can’t do her best work at the @nytimes they should make some real changes over there.
— Andrew Yang🧢🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) July 14, 2020
His dismay was shared by Donald Trump Jr. who said that Weiss “resigns in STUNNING fashion & exposes the Times’ rampant attacks on anyone who breaks from the far-left narrative.”
NYT editor @bariweiss resigns in STUNNING fashion & exposes the Times’ rampant attacks on anyone who breaks from the far-left narrative. “Speak your mind at your own peril… the publisher will cave to the mob.” If you RT/share 1 thing today THIS is it! https://t.co/glFV6aCFxf
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 14, 2020
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas shared Weiss’ resignation letter, calling it “eloquent, profound, incisive.”
Responding to Weiss’ accusations of bullying on Slack channels — some of which were leaked to The Huffington Post in 2018 — Times correspondent Rukmini Callimachi tweeted, “The fact that she has been openly bullied, not just on social media, but in internal slack channels is not okay.”
It’s one thing that many of our readers and staff disagree with @bariweiss’ views – fine. But the fact that she has been openly bullied, not just on social media, but in internal slack channels is not okay. https://t.co/DuyEPv7VDG
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 14, 2020
“What the Times did to @bariweiss is unconscionable,” wrote Atlantic contributor Caitlin Flanagan. “It’s not civil, it’s not in the reader’s interest, and the well-documented culture of extreme harassment will, I hope, now come to light. This is the biggest media story in years.”
Conservatives including former NBC host Megyn Kelly and The View panelist Meghan McCain also expressed support for Weiss.
.@bariweiss – glad u got out of there & well said: “Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery.”
Or at a university. A Hollywood audition. Big Tech job. Publishing house. K-12. Virtually any media co…. https://t.co/MaTBez2KVT— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) July 14, 2020
.@bariweiss is a true original, a fearless thinker, and a brilliant writer. I’m grateful for her voice in culture and media. She will he just fine – the @nytimes on the other hand remains to be seen. This is another nail in the coffin for diversity of thought in mainstream media. https://t.co/J0JoJ5dvHr
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) July 14, 2020
Some on the left were more skeptical. “Seeing a lot of folks saying Bari Weiss’ resignation exposes the roots of the demise of American journalism,” wrote The Daily Beast Politics Editor Sam Stein. “I’d suggest that hedge funds buying and ripping apart outlets across the country and massive tech giants sucking up all the ad revenue are more important matters.”
“There is no issue of legitimate inquiry which is more likely to get you ‘cancelled’ than support for Palestinian rights,” commented left-wing pundit Krystal Ball. “That Bari Weiss, an intellectual architect of that regime of censorship, has the audacity to ‘self-expel’ and cry cancellation is outrageously hypocritical.”
Al Jazeera English host Mehdi Hasan, who has been frequently critical of Weiss, also wrote a thread on her resignation. The Qatar-state media pundit also claimed that Weiss was anti-Palestinian.
“Weiss on multiple occasions expressed bigoted, racist views about Palestinians and never faced any censure from the Times — and none of her supporters ever engage with those very legitimate criticisms of her,” he wrote.
The Jewish world was also quick to react.
American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris called Weiss’ resignation “a poignant, painfully sad letter of resignation. Her departure is a huge loss not only for the paper, but also, no less, for the spirit of open inquiry & civil debate that once characterized our media.”
A powerful, poignant, painfully sad letter of resignation by @bariweiss from @nytimes.
Her departure is a huge loss not only for the paper, but also, no less, for the spirit of open inquiry & civil debate that once characterized our media. https://t.co/F3NI0WtyIi
— David Harris (@DavidHarrisAJC) July 14, 2020
“I’ll just say she’s precisely the kind of friend and colleague that anyone should want, and the NYT’s behavior was appalling,” wrote Washington Examiner Executive Editor Seth Mandel. “All this is obvious — as is the fact that the institution missed a chance to learn from her grace and grit and talent.”
Referencing the online critics that frequently taunt Weiss, Mandel added, “Feel free not to respond to this, btw — I’d rather not know if you’re a terrible person who trolls ppl to insult their friends on social media so save your breath.”
Feel free not to respond to this, btw–I’d rather not know if you’re a terrible person who trolls ppl to insult their friends on social media so save your breath.
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) July 14, 2020
Tablet Senior Writer Yair Rosenberg also commented on the harassment and online bullying Weiss has endured.
It’s no secret that @bariweiss and I disagree on many things. But she never deserved the extraordinary performative abuse she received, and she was the rare superb editor of those who disagreed with her. People on here who obsess over Bari the columnist will miss Bari the editor. https://t.co/QTsXRwQfPm
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) July 14, 2020
“It’s no secret that @bariweiss and I disagree on many things,” Rosenberg tweeted. “But she never deserved the extraordinary performative abuse she received, and she was the rare superb editor of those who disagreed with her. People on here who obsess over Bari the columnist will miss Bari the editor.”
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