‘Reprehensible’: Big names screenshot their unsubscriptions from Washington Post

A drumbeat of disapproval over the Washington Post’s refusal to endorse a presidential candidate took over social media Friday with numerous users posting screenshots of their canceled subscriptions to protest the publication’s decision.

“I have subscribed to the Washington Post since 1993, but I just canceled my subscription today because of the paper’s abdication of duty to endorse a candidate in the most consequential election of my lifetime. Good riddance,” author and former Clinton White House aide Keith Boykinwrote on X.

“The Washington Post editorial board is a disgrace,” actor Rob Reiner declared to his 2.3 million X followers. “For the newspaper that exposed the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal to not take a position and endorse a candidate in the most consequential Presidential election in 165 years is reprehensible.”

Author Stephen King also took to social media Friday to tell his 7 million followers that he had canceled his WaPo subscription after five years, while conservative lawyer George Conway simply posted a screenshot of an email confirming that his subscription had also been canceled.

“We’re sorry to see you go,” the email read.

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But not all were in favor of the move, with some like former Tommy Vietor, a former Obama staffer, pointing out potential unintended consequences by the expression of displeasure.

“I understand the anger at Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post for its endorsement decision, but cancelling your subscription means less revenue to pay all the Post's reporters. Do what you gotta do but Bezos won't feel it in his pocket while some great journalists might,” he wrote.

WaPo reporter Carol Leonning also urged her followers against canceling their subscriptions, warning: “It will only hurt the independent newsgathering my colleagues and I strive to do for you every day.”

But the controversy still continued to flare up online.

“Hey @washingtonpost, you can't make a decision, so I had to... #Unsubscribe,” musician Rich Feinstein posted to X.

“If you need a script for your letter to the editor after you unsubscribe to the Washington Post, you can use mine if you want,” X user Nicole James offered her followers above a screenshot of a letter that, in part, says the WaPo’s decision “further buoyed each and every one of Donald Trump’s lies.”