A scheduled appearance by journalist Bari Weiss at the University of California, Los Angeles has been canceled, according to media reports.
Weiss, the editor-in-chief of CBS News and co-founder of The Free Press, had been slated to deliver the annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture on Feb. 27 at UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations. The talk, titled “The Future of Journalism,” was part of a lecture series honoring Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.
A UCLA events page now lists the lecture as “cancelled,” and ticket holders were expected to receive refunds.
The Los Angeles Times reported “Weiss team withdrew from the event…due to security concerns from Weiss.” A UCLA spokesperson told the Journal that Weiss’ team “withdrew” from the event.
An individual familiar with the matter told TheWrap that the lecture may be rescheduled at a later date, though no new date had been announced as of press time. The Daily Bruin, citing a statement from the associate director of UCLA’s Burkle Center, reported that Weiss might still conduct the lecture over Zoom.
The cancellation follows mounting criticism and planned protests from activist groups and some students in the weeks leading up to the event. The anti-Israel organization CodePink had called on UCLA to rescind the invitation, accusing Weiss of promoting views inconsistent with the values of the Pearl lecture series. The Daily Bruin reported on Wednesday that a petition demanding the event’s cancellation garnered nearly 11,000 signatures.
Weiss’ withdrawal from the event has garnered a range of reactions. Some, like UCLA alumna Naomi Goldman, said they were pleased that Weiss wouldn’t be appearing at UCLA.
The Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture series has previously featured prominent journalists and public figures, including Condoleezza Rice, Bret Stephens, Christopher Hitchens, Bernard Henri Levy, David Brooks, Fareed Zakaria and Bob Woodward.
This story has been updated to reflect latest information.
